The Official Fairy Tail Otaku Club (OLD)
by HannahPlusAnime
Summary: Due to embarrassment from her love of anime, Lucy masks her true, quirky self, replacing it with acts of haughtiness and poise. She is blackmailed into joining an anime club after stumbling upon it. While the club president, Natsu is only trying to get her to embrace her true self, Lucy has her world slowly crumbling apart and learns to love the group of oddballs.
1. Chapter 1: Author Note - Name Glossary

***This is an updated note***

Hello and welcome to my Fanfiction! The first half of the chapters are quite old, and seem a little bit... how do I say? Embarrassing I guess... But I'm still in love with the story and I have many ideas for the future chapters.

Newcomers to this story are informed in this small note of information of the names of the story inside the story... of _Fairy Tail_. I hope you get it. These are the names in my version of the original _Fairy Tail_ written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima:

Akiko - Lucy

Lucas - Natsu

Lloyd - Gray

Nasira - Erza

Emily - Wendy

Pavanna - Lisanna

Those are the names that appear in the story.

The old chapters seem to have collided with my newer chapters that I have written since I have forgotten about some, let's say, less-than-important plot points, so I will be doing a rewrite of the old chapters to make them more enjoyable. I have two different back stories for Natsu, keep changing in between 24-hour time and 12-hour time, the honorifics were mostly wrong, and mainly the anime culture is a _bit_ off since I was just barely getting used to it... I will definitely fix these things, so you can ignore those and look forward to the rewrite to the old chapters after I complete the story. (I mentioned this somewhere in my notes in one of the chapters)

My writing style has a lot of "..."'s in it, and a lot of _emphasized_ words (heehee), so do not mind those. I like to use a lot of references in this story, so if you see any weird sentences, like, "It will cause a colossal explosion in South Africa" will not be rare. (BTW, it will be unnatural if you get that reference, since it is part of one of my personal experiences)

As for the T rating,

Violence - Murders - Non-graphic Sexual Assult

Profanity

Sexual References - Mildly Romantic Sences - MAJORLY CRINGEY Fluff Scenes with clichés

Mild Pychological Damaging for Characters. Stuff out of a slice-of-life.

Just thought you should know what you're getting into. Slice-of-life romandic dram-edy (Drama and Comedy) with no sex scenes or anything.

This note is rather shorter compared my older one, and I will not be giving any more information, so I've spilled all of my beans.

Enjoy the story and look forward to more OFTOC! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**~Heeeyo! First chapter! I hope you guys are excited! I'm going to try to make this a long and lovable story, full of drama and exaggeration of real life, and perfect ships c: Probably what most of you people are thinking, "Haaannah, why do you write so many NaLu stories?" That's because I love writing romance, and NaLu is the easiest ship to write about. If you're looking for a GaJevy story or JerZa story, please go to someone else... . Sorry. Anyway, if you are a huge NaLu shipper, than you are my new best friend P.S.: The drama gets real later in the story! Enjoiiii!~**

 **.**

 **~|Lucy Heartfilia's POV : Heartfilia Residence|~**

 **.**

"Lucy! Get up and downstairs! You're leaving in fifteen minutes!" My dad yelled from downstairs. I sighed and grabbed my backpack from my bed and slung it over my shoulder. I pulled up _KissManga_ from my phone and plopped on the couch downstairs to read the new chapter of _Fairy Tail._

 _Fairy Tail_ is my favorite manga and anime of all time. I only discovered it about a month ago, and read the entire manga in a week (500+ Chapters) And now, waiting every Monday for a new chapter, I love it to death.

I finished the chapter and almost threw my phone across the room.

 _What? That's it?_ My mind rang. Nasira, the blue-haired requip mage, just stopped the giant battle between Lloyd and Lucas, and learning that a major look-alike was really herself.

I shook my head twice and put my phone away. My father, Jude Heartfilia came up to me.

"Lucy," he said. "Virgo has the car ready."

I sighed and got up from the couch, entering the car outside with my maid, Virgo, at the wheel. She smiled at me. Virgo was a perfectly good maid, except the weird thing about her, is she looks alot like the Celestial Spirit Virgo from _Fairy Tail_.

We road through the streets in silence. She dropped me off with saying, "Good day, Princess."

 _Just like Virgo from_ Fairy Tail _,_ I thought.

I veiwed my Mongolia Academy. It was an expensive school, who the either rich, or talented in intelligence go. The marble walls sparkled in the sunlight.

I walked up the stone stairs, staring at my phone. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned over. My friend, Milianna, smiled at me. I smiled back, but a little half-heartedly.

My friends were kind of shallow, and hated everything fantasy, that's why I always stayed silent, and got the nickname, "Realina," for how "realistic" I am, but my friends, or the entire school, doesn't know how much of a geek I am.

"Heartfilia-san," she said. "The group's going to hang out in our usual once-a-week homework session, but we're doing it in a classroom this time. Classroom C-2. Can you come today?"

I smiled and replied, "Sure. Same time?"

"Yeah! C'ya!" And she was off into the mob of students to find their classrooms.

I sighed and walked in the rather clean hall, and was off to B-4.

 **.**

 **~|:Mongolia Academy:|~**

 **.**

I yawned and stretched. The time was 17:30, the usual time to get to homework. I scrolled through images, for a new wallpaper for my phone, and opened the classroom door.

"WHO'S THE BEST CLUB?"

"US!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"SPEND OTAKU TIME!"

"HOW?"

"TOGETHER!"

"WHAT'S OUR FAVORITE FANDOM?"

"FAIRY TAIL!"

"WHO NEEDS A SHORTER OPENING?"

"US!"

I looked up at the choas and saw a whole bunch of people gathered at large tables, that reminded me of movie theater seat-rows. Rounded off with slight isles inbetween tables.

Kids sat on them, had benches, gathered around tables, but this one boy with spiky pink hair yelling on a stage. What intrigued me is that everyone had their index fingers extended and their thumbs out, pointing up, for the _Fairy Tail_ friendship symbol. Some kids were collage graduates, and giving away my place, I asked in shock, looking at a small couple with a four-year-old in their laps, "Mr. and Mrs. Connell?"

My gym teachers looked over and replied, "Oh! Heartfilia-san! What you're doin' here?"

I felt someone grab my wrist. I realized I had my wallpaper options pulled up, and a HD wallpaper with my favorite couple, LuKiko, hugging with a sunset in the background.

The boy who grabbed my wrist was wearing sunglasses, and pushed them up with a free and flipped his orange hair and said, "Young lady, what are you doing here? I didn't know we were getting new members."

I looked around, and everyone was staring at me. "Uh.. um... I'm new? Looking for a bathroom? W-what are you people doing?"

Mrs. Connell chuckled, and said in her western accent, "Oh, honey, we know you're not new. This here is an Fairy Tail club. We here gather an' watch one episode a day, goin' through the series, and then talk 'bout it, and read the new manga 'gether, then talk 'bout it again."

I stared around and put on my serious face, "That's a stupid thing to do. Obsessing over something then sharing it with people can annoy others. Plus, obsessing over things that don't happen in real life can lead to disappointment and unhealth."

The orange-haired boy looked at my phone. "You a _Fairy Tail_ fan? You're wallpaper sure points it out."

I yanked my hand away, saying, "Yes, I like Fairy Tail, I won't lie because it's useless to. But I bet I don't like it as much as you do.. starting a club about it."

The boy smirked. "Can you join us? We need new members."

I looked around and saw about 25 people, gathered around the tables.

"I'm sure you're fine."

"Aww, c'mon. Anyone who watches _Fairy Tail_ must really like anime, so can you join?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, but I must decline. I do enjoy anime, but I have no reason to express it to everyone. Now, I need to study with my friends."

I turned on heel and walked out the door.

 **.**

 **~|Natsu Dragneel's POV|~**

 **.**

I stared, jawdropped at the strange girl turning heel and flipping her blonde hair behind her.

"Damn it! We have another criticizer! I knew I shouldn't have joined this club!" My life-long rival, Gray, exclaimed, throwing his stupid arms in the air.

"Puuuh... Shut up, Ice Princess," I said, referring to Gray. "That one was extra hassle-y. She was an otaku herself and she turned us down!"

A petite blue-haired girl stood up from her bench and said, "Yeah! What would we do? She thinks were exaggerating our love for anime, and think we're major dorks! Of course we are, but people outside our fandom doesn't need to know that!"

Levy flopped back down and hid her face in her folded arms.

"Real encouraging, Levy," I commented.

I paced around.

"Natsu-san?" Asked the smallest teen in the room, Wendy. "Why do you look worried?"

I stopped and faced the whole club, staring at me. "We need to get her in the club! Didn't anybody else tell that she was panicking? She's probably one of those... loners or something."

Mrs. Connell, one of the self-defense teachers stood up. "Nope, Natsu-kun. Lucy Heartfilia, she'sa very popular, but has a reputation t' hate all o' anime and manga. Them call her Realina, for 'er sense of reality."

I scoffed. "That's dumb."

"What proof do you have that she's a real otaku?" Asked my girlfriend, Lisanna.

"Uh... she said it herself, didn't she? I don't think she was humoring us or anything," I said. I looked over to Loke, the kid with orange hair and sunglasses. "What was her thing on her phone that made you say she was a _Fairy Tail_ fan?"

He smirked. "A LuKiko wallpaper. Her words were true she said she liked _Fairy Tail._ Anyone that watches it must watch it alot to like that dumbass _fanon_ ship." Loke was a Akiko x Leo shipper.

"And you're saying that AkiEo is canon?" Asked Mirajane, my girlfriend's sister.

"Yeah. LuKiko is better that AkiEo," I argued.

"But PavCus is your favorite, right? They resemble us," Lisanna cooed, clinging my arm.

"Back to the main problem, Natsu!" Commanded Erza Scarlet, the red-haired scary second-in-command.

"Y-Yeah.. I need to get her in the club. I feel bad for people hiding who they really are." I started pacing again.

"Juvia has an idea for Love-Rival to join the club!" Juvia's hand shot up. "It would cause Love-Rival embarrassment!"

Cake Icing (Gray) coughed. "L-Love-Rival? Is that what yo call the blonde?"

Juvia clinged to Gray's arm. "Yes. Love-Rival to Juvia over Gray-sama. Juvia doesn't like that blonde criticizer."

I slammed my hands on their table, grinning. "Juvia! What's your plan?"

 **.**

 **~|Lucy's POV : Mongolia Academy : The Next Day|~  
.**

Twisting my pencil in my hand, I wrote down the last answer on my test, and the bell rang loud in my ears.

"Stand." "Bow." "Good Afternoo-" Started Sensei Gildarts before a kid with spiky pink hair ran into the room, panting.

"S-Sorry... Gildarts-sensei, but I have an announcement," he panted. Pinky grinned, and said, pointing in my direction, "You. Can you stand up?"

I frowned and stood up slowly.

 _What are you planning?_ I mouthed at the boy. He just grinned.

"People of class B-5, my name is Dragneel, Natsu of class C-7. Heartfilia-san, right?" He smirked. "I sent you a text, and I could announce it to the class if you want."

I rose an eyebrow and opened my backpack and pulled out my phone.

 _I could announce to the entire class that you aren't really the Realina they think you are. Agree to this and your secret's safe with the entire club, do whatever I want at the usual C-3 Mock Court room._

I cursed under my breath. "No thank you, Dragneel-kun. I can manage without your help. I shall complete your request. Thank you for asking, but you could have asked personally."

Natsu grinned, and bowed and Sensei Gildarts. "Sorry again for inturuppting the end of class, Gildarts-sensei. Thank you for not giving me detention like last time."

Before Sensei Gildarts could say any objections, Natsu ran out of the classroom.

 _Last time?_

.

"This is dumb," I said, while opening the door of the Mock Court class room, C-3.

"Hello!" Everyone yelled, piled at the front door, waving their hands all in the same direction.

I started to turn away, but someone caught my arm (again.) I turned over to see a petite girl with light blue hair tied into a bandana.

"You agreed," she said, in a demanding tone.

I frightfully walked in, and the group split apart, revealing Natsu Dragneel on the stage, crossing his arms and grinning.

"Welcome to the OFTOC!"

Immediately I burst out in laughter. "I-It looks like you planned and rehearsed this whole thing! Plus... Offtak? Russian native civilization or something?"

Natsu's grin faded away. "No. First of all, we did rehearse this. And second, the 'Offtak' is O-F-T-O-C. The Offical Fairy Tail Otaku Club. Everyone here is an otaku, and we all read and watch Fairy Tail."

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked.

Natsu grinned again. "So, do whatever I want? You can join the club!"

My jaw dropped. "Oh, hell to the no! I won't do something like that."

Natsu pulled out his cell, and started typing, saying the words as he typed. "To the whole school. Fun fact about one of the most down to earth and realistic person in the school, Heart-"

"No! No no no! Don't send..." I yelled, running toward the stage.

"You promise to join?" Natsu asked, devilishly.

I slapped my hand to my head in a face-palm. "Fiiine. I'll join. But only for a month!"

Natsu nodded, then spread his arms. "Everyone?"

I waited three seconds.

"WELCOME TO THE OFTOC!"

 **~Dat's what happened to Lucy *wink* I know this isn't such a long chapter, but I'll back the others longer. Btw, this is a slow devolving NaLu story, just to notify. There will also be other ships, like JerZa, GaJevy, esc. Btw, the one review I got warmed my heart ^_^ I'm really glad to know I have fans. Thank you so much for being amazing! I'll post the new chapter soon.~**


	3. Chapter 3

**~2nd Chapter! :D Enjoiii!~**

 **~|Lucy's POV : Heartfilia Residece|~**

My alarm went off in the most annoying way. My _off_ button got stuck, so I unplugged it, but fell right back asleep when I was making my bed. I woke up with my phone buzzing with texts, and I felt like the most miserable person in the world. I checked my phone.

"7:25? SHIT!" I yelled.

What annoyed me more than my stupitidy was Natsu texting me like crazy.

 _7:24_

 _YOSH LUIGI_

 _7:24_

 _We have club today :DDDD_

 _7:25_

 _I hope you can make it!_

 _7:25_

 _First day :3_

 _7:25_

 _Why you no reply?_

I turned off my phone and hurried to get my uniform on. I ran towards the bathroom and brushed my teeth, put on the quickest and lightest makeup. I brushed my hair sloppily and put it in a braid.

I checked my phone.

"Oh.. I'm good. 7:40."

I ran down the stairs and grabbed a banana.

"Virgo! Are you there?" I called.

The pink-haired maid came out of the kitchen, holding keys.

"Time to go, princess."

 **~|:Mongolia Academy:|~**

I walked up the stone steps of Mongolia Academy, then heard enthusiastic screaming.

"HEARTFILIA-SAN!" Called the familiar voice of Milianna. She ran towards me and threw her arms around me.

"Haaaaaaaaapy Wednesday!" She yelled. "Why didn't you study with us on Monday? You also didn't talk to us yesterday."

I struggled to breathe until she finally let go. "I-I'm sorry. I had plans. My dad doubled over coughing again."

"Oh," she said, looking worried. "What did the doctor say?"

I grimaced. "He only told my dad, and my dad said it was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Roger, Heartfilia-san!" Then she was off.

I rubbed my head. I haven't really though about my father's condition lately. I guess that made me a bad person. I shook my head from the thought and I went off to class.

 **.**

I walked out of World Geography. I found the one and only Natsu waiting outside the door. He grinned idiotically at me.

"Yosh, Luigi!" Natsu beamed.

"Quit calling me Luigi, Pinky," I shot at him.

We walked downstairs to room C-3. I stared at room C-2 and sighed. My friends were there on Monday, and after I stormed off away from the geek club, I forgot to study with them. Now I'm apart of that geek club.

Natsu pushed me inside. Everyone was piling in. Instead of 6 tables rounded and lined up, they were up against the giant walls, and in the center of the room were 30 chairs making a circle, ten kids already were spread out, sitting on the chairs. I sighed and face-palmed. These guys were prepared for just about anything.

"Take a seat, Luigi," Natsu grinned and pushed. He sat next to a girl with short, white hair, and put his arm around her.

Guessing that was his girlfriend, I sat on a random chair, next to a girl with long, red hair, who was writing things down on a paper. I peeked over and saw she was checking off names for people who arrived.

Eventually everyone arrived. Natsu stood up and clapped his hands together.

"Welcome everyone! Welcome to the Offical Fairy Tail Otaku Club!"

Everyone thrust their fists in the air and yelled, "YAY!" enthusiastically.

"Everyone, we are going to do the offical welcoming routine for a new member! Let's show her how things go around here. Erza?"

First, the girl with bright red hair beside me stood up and said. "Thank you, Natsu. We will name off the rules. Everyone stand, except the newcomer."

Everyone sat up in sync, like they did this many times before. Everyone put their hands to their hearts and recited, "We promise to stay true to ourselves, love what we can, love eachother, never called by surname for any extra respect. We promise to love anime, share with friends, and stay as a team forever. And stay nakama for whenever we are in unease."

They did the sign of Fairy Tail with their hands, and sat down.

Natsu crossed his arms. "Whad'ya think?" He addressed me.

I flipped my bangs. "You guys always seem too prepared."

Natsu smirked. "Are we ready, everyone?"

All the members stood up again.

"WHO'S THE BEST CLUB?"

"US!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"SPEND OTAKU TIME!"

"HOW?"

"TOGETHER!"

"WHAT'S OUR FAVORITE FANDOM?"

"FAIRY TAIL!"

"WHO NEEDS A SHORTER OPENING?"

"US!"

"WE'RE FAIRY TAIL, YA' HEAR?"

"DON'T MESS WITH THE NAKAMA!"

They were seated.

Pinky grinned. "That's what we are. Erza, could you tell everyone the rules, especially to our newcomer?"

"Erza," the girl beside me, pulled a piece of paper from her chest pocket, and recited, "Here in the OFTOC, we do not insult, but speak our minds. We are all friends. We would halt fighting, but personal matters stay out of our hands. We respect those who have different opinions. We do not call eachother by our last names. Whenever in unease, we shall or shall not turn over to the club for help, but we do not force help apon the uneased person, we do not cease to comfort. We help those who are not true to themselves. We are not only a fan club, but family, so treat it like family."

She sat down and put the paper in her pocket once more. "Shall we start with names? Go first, Natsu, then we'll go right with Lisanna."

After they finished with names, I was ready to pull my hair out of my head. All I wanted to do was go home and quit this stupid club.

"Excuse me, Erza," I said, adressing the red-head. "How long is this club?"

She turned to me. "We only did about five minutes. This club lasts an hour. Pace yourself."

I sighed, and turned my head. My eyes caught a glance at someone with blue hair and pale skin glaring at me. I think her name was Julian... Juvianna... Juvia? Probably Juvia. She was muttering something under her breath, but being opposite of her, I only made out her words as "Loath rifle," whatever she was saying, I pretty sure I was wrong about guessing. I notice she was clinging to an arm, which the owner was a man with raven-black hair. I think his name was Gray. Easy enough to remember.

My thoughts were stopped when Lisanna, apparently Natsu's girlfriend stood up and said, "Everyone, time for the episode!"

Everybody in the club started moving chairs in a certain direction when Natsu and Lisanna went over to a blank wall, and pulled a string I didn't know existed. A giant projecter screen flopped down. Lisanna ran to the opposite wall and flipped a switch and put in a disk of some sort. She fliddled with a remote, and the projecter screen shown a menu of _Fairy Tail 2014._

"What episode were we on, Natsu?" She called out.

"Ehhhh... Episode 14?"

Lisanna pulled out a smartphone and searched up something. "Yeah. Gloria, the one where they battle everyone..."

 _Real specific,_ I thought.

She turned on the episode. Grand Magic Games, the episode where the Fairy Tail guild battles all the opposing guilds and Lucas goes off to save Akiko along with Emily, Chesna, and the exceeds.

The episode went on, and I have to say, I missed this episode. I loved it a lot, but tried to show through my face the truth about this club. I hated it and it was wasting my time.

 **~|Natsu's POV|~**

I was grinning the whole time through the episode, but at one LuKiko part, Lisanna scoffed. She didn't like LuKiko, Lucas x Akiko, but she said she wouldn't hate _Fairy Tail_ if they got together, but she supported Pavanna x Lucas more because it resembled me and Lisanna. Childhood friends, and a marriage promise. I didn't take the promise seriously, because we were only eight, but she was dead set on it.

I shook my head from the thoughts and continued watching the episode.

The episode ended, and Erza stood up and turned off the projector.

"Alright everyone, set up the chairs again," she commanded.

Everybody groaned, but put the chairs in place again. We finished the circle and sat in the same places. I glanced over at Lucy-the-newcomer. She looked bored out of her mind. I started to feel guilty about blackmailing her in the club, but half the club persuaded me because she insulted it. Nakama didn't give up if someone insults our club.

"Right, everyone's done? Okay, we're going to do the daily otaku talk." Erza looked towards Lucy. "Lucy, we go around in a circle and say what anime we're watching and what's it about. If you're not watching an anime, probably talk about a manga, or just specific fandom."

Lucy raised her hand. "What if we're not in any fandom?"

Erza's expression turned a little darker. "Then why are you here? You can say your favorite color or something."

Lucy put on a face that clearly said, _touché._

"Natsu, we'll start with you as usual."

I grinned. "Right now, I'm watching Ao No Exorcist. Blue Exorcist if you must say. It's about a son of Satan who was raised in a Cathedral, so he was raised believing in Christ. In his teen years he discovered he had the power to see demons. He attended the Exorcist class with his classmates not knowing he's the son of Satan. That's how far I got."

Everyone clapped, and feeling quite pleased with myself, put an arm around Lisanna, and glanced at her, silently saying it was her turn.

She smiled, "I'm watching the same thing. We sometimes watch it together."

Mirajane next to her said, "I'm watching Toradora! It's really good so far, and I'm getting a lot of ships out of it."

It dragged on until it was Luigi's turn. She sighed and turned her head away.

"Lucy, I know you hate being in this club, but you need to bond with us," I encouraged.

She broke away from her starespot and sighed. "Fine. I'm watching the original Fullmetal Alchemist. Not Brotherhood, but the older one. It's just the same story."

"Which is?" Erza asked.

Lucy sighed again. "Two brothers preformed Human-Transmutation, and with the dire consequences in equivalent trade, one brother lost his leg, and one lost his entire body. The oldest got his younger brother's soul into a body of armor, sacrificing his arm. They go on a journey seeking the Philosopher Stone, the only object that can bring back their original bodies."

Everyone clapped, and the anime discussion was over, along with the club meeting. I stood up.

"Everyone, closing ceremony. Let's show the newcomer how we do this."

Everyone did the Fairy Tail support gesture.

"As Fairy Tail fandom members," they recited, "we will follow the rules, not involve in personal buisness unless welcomed, be friends to one another, and forever love anime as an inspiration."

I smirked. "Ready, everyone?"

The members raised their arms into the air, outstretched, brought them down in a wave, and sang, "OOOoooooooh, arigato, senpai Natsu!" They put all their hands in a pile, then threw them up in the air, which was choadic because there were about 30 members.

"Goodbye, everyone!" They sang as they gathered their bags.

 **~|Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence|~  
**

I tip-toed in, trying not to distrub whatever meeting my brother was having. Zeref, my brother, the weirdest person on Earth. Only 20, but acts like a traumatized 13yr. After my dad died, he came over all the way from America to pick me up and has been living in Mongolia ever since. Family? Yes. Brother? Yes. Like normal brothers? Definitely not. He has people from everywhere from Japan come over every month, different ones every month, to come over and do some kind of smoke ceremony, or something weird like that. That's why I spend every minute in my room, planning for what we do in the club on occasions, or out with Lisanna.

I tiptoed to my room while Zeref was chanting something in Ancient Greek or something. Half way there, I tripped on a shoe, fell to the floor, face-down, making a perfect, "GAH- oooosh" noise.

"Little brother?" Zeref called. He walked through the hall, and found me face-first to the floor.

Adrenaline flooded through my head. Last time I interrupted the ceremony, Zeref asked me to participate, and I almost ended up roasted in the fire from dancing to close. Who the hell asks his brother to participate in a indoor-fire devil-like-worshipping ceremony when he clearly avoids it every day?

I got up quickly, and sprinted into my room yelling, "'Sup Zeref! I have homework.-" Then slammed the door behind me.

Not only that I was creeped out about this, but my father, before he passed away, told me to do nothing that didn't seem right in your gut. That includes creepy smoke ceremonies.

I heard a knock on my door. I sighed and got up from my desk, rubbing my eyes from the incense.

"Yeah?" I asked, opening the door to see my pale, black-haired brother staring at me with worried red eyes.

"Brother. Would you like to participate? We could tell you about the history of Zerism."

"Zerism?" I asked. _Did that come from his own name?_

"Yes. A legend of a man who controlled Death, named Lord Zeref. A noble and holy man full of justice. I would tell you about the history," he replied, excitement in his usually emotionless eyes.

"Zeref? Isn't that your name? Did you make a religion about yourself? You think you control Death?"

"No brother," he said like it was obvious. "Legend states facts that we are descendants of Lord Zeref and his beautiful wife Eeva, which means Life. Though the legend states that Eeva is evil. Death only brings you peace, nnnot the hardships of Life."

"..uh... No thanks... I'm really busy with the club and stuff... I'm planning a field trip to see some kids and charity and stuff... Byeee." I closed the door quickly.

I flopped on my bed. Zerism? Descendants of a lord of Death that's good, but a evil goddess of Life? Good to die? Peace? Oh my God... Did they mean...

I ran out the door to the hall.

"What are you doing? Don't do sacrifices-" I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I looked over and saw the calm, smiling face of Zeref.

"Brother. You came. Please sit anywhere," he gestured around the room.

"W-What... what are you doing this time? Dances or... holy lord of bananas..."

I saw that people were gathered around the fire, holding bananas, chanting something that sounded like, "frûïtsa wàntani kämi."

"What the hell are you doing?" I said.

People gasped at my choice of language.

"Brother!" Zeref gasped. "Do not insult Lord Zeref's home! Should you know better?"

"Eh... no. And for your information... I think Hell would be a dark, damp uncomfortable place even though it's full of flames. Flames are awesome... but not Hell's flames."

"Do not insult Zeref's home! It's not the niceset place of homes, but it's his opinion," Zeref babbled.

I was raised by Igneel to respect people's religion choices, but this was a little weird.

"Eh... I should clean my room. I think Lisanna's coming over soon," I came up with at the top of my head.

Zeref took a banana from the stand, held it to his face vertically, and chanted, "Früitï Kamí Zeref. Īshû dē monï loï Natsu-oneesan, Lisanna-san?"

"Zeref? What are you doing?"

Zeref threw the banana into the fire. "We are using Lord Zeref's favorite fruit choice to communicate to him."

The banana smoldered and shriviled. Zeref held out his hand to the fire, but did not touch the flames. He shut his eyes tightly.

"Y-You will not spend the rest of your life with Lisanna Strauss-chan."

"Wait... You're serious with the banana thing?" I asked, puzzled.

I turned on heel, knowing I lived in a house with a maniac. I finally entered my room in peace for about fifteen seconds, until a knock came once again on his door.

"Zeref! Would you leave me alone! I need to do homework!" I got up from my bed, and flung open the door.

Instead of seeing only Zeref, a blonde teen with chocolate brown eyes stood glaring at me.

"Brother. This is Heartfilia-san. She goes to your school. She has asked for your presence," Zeref explained.

Zeref left.

"Luigi? What are you doing here?" I asked in shock.

Lucy shot me a dangerous look.

"Shut up. Outside the club you call me Heartfilia-san. Or even Lucy-san. Don't call me any silly nicknames, and always address me with ***** -san."

 ***-san can be like "Miss" in America. Heartfilia-san = Miss Heartfilia**

"..." Is all I could mumble.

Lucy walked in with poise. She looked really different out of her uniform. Instead of a cute school girl, there was an intimidating young blonde in a sweater and mini skirt.

She stood in the corner of the room, glaring.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Scarlet-senpai told me to come and discuss the field trip with you. She says as a new-comer, I need to bond with the club and see how things usually go."

"Scarlet-senpai?" I scoffed.

"I treat people with respect. She is an upperclassmen in the club. I shall only address you Dragneel-kun. I have low respect for silly boys like you."

I stared with the best, _what the hell?_ look I could manage. "Fine. Sit anywhere."

She looked around. "I'm fine standing," she said with poise.

I shrugged and sat on my spinny-chair.

"Okay, what's the plan?" I grinned, rubbing my hands together.

Lucy face-palmed.

 **~New chapter soon ;) The normal amount of words in a chapter will be this amount! 3079 Words! Btw... I didn't base Zerism off of anything, so I'm trying not to offend anybody! ;-;**

 **New chapter about every week!~**


	4. Chapter 4

**~Heyo, everyone! I just wanted to point out that drama starts on this chapter ;) Also, I made a mistake on my Glossary besides typos. I just noticed that Loke's name is Trevor in this Fairy Tail manga (in the fanfic) but it's actully just suppost to be Leo for the Zodiac Spirit. Sorry! I'll change it. Enjooooi!~**

 **~|Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence|~**

I face-palmed at either Natsu's stupidity or his lack of proper humor.

"I thought you already had a plan," I told Natsu.

"Yeah, but I wanna hear your thoughts. What were you expecting to do for a field trip?" He asked, leaning forward.

"Theme park?" I questioned.

Natsu laughed loudly. "Theme park? That's your only idea? Okay, in our club we usually sell CDs of our favorite anime, with some anime stores as sponsors, so it's not pirating. We use that money to go on cheap outings as a club. We also invite some kids from the orphanage to come along. We bring home presents for them sometimes. We're going to the zoo with some kids. Large group, but we haven't had an outing for a while, so we've been saving the money."

I hid a smile. _That's really sweet,_ I thought.

Natsu leaned forward towards me, and grinned. "Oi! You _can_ look happy! You probably do have a heart!"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. " _Probably?"_

"Yeah," said Natsu. "I always thought you were an emo who doesn't express anything and keeps her emotions all bottled up inside."

"Hey," I protested. "Just because I don't express my love for anime doesn't mean I'm an emo who 'keeps all her emotions bottled up inside.'" I curled my fingers when I said a syllable of Natsu's repeated sentence.

"Whatever. Here," Natsu handed me a yellow composition book. "Just write plans. God, I wish Erza could handle this instead of me. I need to deal with my weird brother."

"How do you deal with him?" I asked.

"I could move into an apartment."

I looked down. Was _I_ ready to move out of my house? I was kind of tired living with my dad, and the maids and butlers were getting kinda annoying. I shrugged off the thought and wrote things down in my notebook, until a thought hit me.

"Dragneel-kun," I said suddenly. Natsu looked up. "You have a girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah, so?" He asked.

I smirked. "So quit checking me out."

Natsu looked confused. "What do you mean?"

I rose my head. "You noticed I was smiling, even though I was hiding it well. You were probably studing my face a lot to notice that."

Natsu coughed, flustered. "Wait.. what? Umm... I... I read emotions? Uh... You know people have those glints in their eyes? That stood out to me, so I knew you were- Wait... why am I explaining that? I _can_ read emotions well. Just... Get to the writing."

I laughed, proud of myself for getting the president of the club flustered.

I wrote down the time of leaving, estimation of arrival time, and what we would eat afterwards, until my pocket of my hoodie buzzed with my phone with a new text message. I pulled it out and read the message sent by my dad.

 _Honey, I think I'm going to get one of those coughing fits, so can you pick up my medicine in case I double over? Just check the diagnose number and the prescription._

 _\- Jude Heartfilia : Sent 7:06 PM_

I frowned at the message. I gathered my bag and gave the composition book to Natsu.

"Sorry, Dragneel-kun. I have to get some medicine to my dad, and I live far away, so I won't come back until next time. Bye," I waved, walking out of his bedroom door.

"Awww," he complained. "I need help though... I didn't get into the school for my intelligence, you know."

"C'ya," and I was off, waving at the strange men carrying bananas in their living room.

 **~|: Mongolia Pharmacy :|~**

"I need to pick up medication for Heartifilia, Jude, please," I told the worker at the pharmacy.

"What's the diagnose? Can you also show me your ID to see if you have the premission?" The worker asked.

"Umm... They didn't tell me, but I have the number and my ID somewhere..."I scavenged my purse for the cards. I found them and showed them to the worker. "I'm Jude Heartfilia's daughter."

"Okay," he said. "I'll get the medication in a minute. Please sit."

I sat, and he was off to find my dad's medicine.

No one else was at the pharmacy, which kind of scared me, but soon the worker was back and he gave me a small white paper bag.

"Thank you," I said.

 **~|: Heartfilia Residence :|~**

I got in, and heard a giant _thump._ I dropped my bag, and ran towards the sound in the kitchen. Adrenaline filled my body down to my feet. My dad was on the floor, face turning purple, trying to gasp for air.

"Dad!" I screamed. I ran back to the door and found the small paper bag, and searched for the contents. I found a shot-like medicine. Without thinking, I ran back to my dad and injected the medication. My dad's face got back to normal color, but he was gasping and coughing.

"L-Lucy... I-I collapsed..." He gasped.

"You don't say..." I said, my heart throbbing from fear. "Dad, what do you really have? What sickness?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm just sick."

I bowed my head. "Dad... tell me."

"Lucy, please don't worr-"

"DAD! TELL ME RIGHT NOW! I don't know what you could do if I wasn't here! It's best for me to know!"

My dad didn't tell me. "You'll just worry."

"Then it's bad?"

"No. I'm fine," he smiled warmly at me. "I have a special medicine they made for me. I don't have a specific sickness.

I ignored him for the rest of the evening, because I knew he was lying. I grabbed dinner with out talking to him, then quickly got to my room. I looked up on my laptop of diseases that make you doubling over coughing, but nothing seemed to match he case perfectly.

"I will find out soon," I told myself.

I gave up and fell asleep watching _Clannad._

 **~| Wednesday : Mongolia Academy |~**

"Alrighty, everyone! Today we aren't going to do the regular club meeting day!" Announced Erza on stage. "Natsu, Lucy the Newcomer, Mirajane and I have assembled a day at the zoo with kids from the orphanage! We will split up into three groups because one is one is just too big. We will have leaders. Me and Mirajane will take charge of group A. Mr. and Mrs. Connell will take care of B, and Lisanna and Natsu will take over C. We'll divide once the kids get here."

Everyone had murmurs of agreement for this arrangement, and Asuka let out a cheer of joy.

Everyone in the club except me all gathered around and explained what animes to watch, and who's watching what. All I did is snuggle up in a corner in the wall and searched my phone once again for coughing diseases. I saw a message pop up on my phone. I checked it and it was Virgo the maid.

 _Princess, thy hast a problem on thy hands. Master Jude is not feeling well. Thine head is burning in an abnormal way, and thine average coughing is outnumbered._

 _\- Maid Virgo, Sent 5:36 PM._

I grimaced. I couldn't leave here right now. Everyone was ready to gather and meet the kids. I just typed,

 _Virgo, there is a bag in the top left cabinet in the kitchen with medication in it for coughing. There's also fever medicine if you search around. And also, please do not text in the way you talk in real life .-._

I sent the message and all I got back was,

 _Thanks so much for the feedback, dude princess! Punishment is so cool it could be very legit RN!_

 _\- Maid Virgo, Sent 5:38._

I face-palmed when the doors to the Mock Court room opened and kids piled into the classroom and started to mingle.

I got up and joined the crowd. In the corner of my eye, I saw the freshmen, Wendy, talk to a boy about her age, maybe older, wearing a orphanage uniform, his dark hair in sort of fluffy spikes.

I walked over and heard their conversation. "I'm one of the older kids. I don't know if I'm really an orphan, but my dad abandoned me, so that's why I'm here."

"Hey there," I waved at the boy.

Wendy smiled. "Lucy-san, this is Romeo-san. I just met him. Apparently he's 14, my age." Wendy turned a little pink.

"Oh. Hello, Romeo-kun. Nice to meet you. You can call me just Heartfilia-san. I prefer my surname for all people."

He did a small smile, then I decided to walk off when I heard Erza announce, "Welcome, everyone! We're the Offical Fairy Tail Otaku Club! We're all otakus, but we do not think life invaluable, so we make friends through a common interest, instead of staying in our bedrooms just burying ourselfs inside our favorite thing, Country Entertainment, anime and manga! We're all happy to have you here today.

"We're doing an outing to the zoo, but our group is too large just for one group, so we're going to split up into three groups. Everyone line up next to our friend Lisanna!"

"Wait... what?" Lisanna asked, but everyone besides leaders lined up beside her.

Erza inspected the group of about 34, and counted them off into groups. The groups found their leaders. I got the number 3, group C, which Natsu and Lisanna were taking over. I joined the group, and a few common people I saw, Loke, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, and a small girl with light blue hair that I forgot her name. Five orphans in the group smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"Okay," Natsu announced. "We're heading out!"

 **~|: School Bus :|~  
**

We gathered on the bus in a very choatic way. We piled in one large bus and we barely had enough space. I sat next to the girl with light blue hair I forgot the name of. She was reading a thick book labeled, _The Ancient History of Martial Arts, By Adele Bascombe._ I immediately got on my phone to search the sickness again.

The girl looked up from her enormous book and said, "What are you doing on your phone? This is an outing."

I looked up from my phone and glared at the girl. I noticed from her facial features she was about my age.

"Who are you again?" I blurted out.

"Geez, you've been in the club for three days and I'm suprised Jet and Droy even said anything to you about me." She sighed. "My name is Levy. Please don't get me mixed up with Wendy or any other girl with blue hair."

"Yeah, we have a lot of bluenettes here," I commented. "Okay, Levy. Since you stated this is an outing and I'm wasting time on my phone, how about you put down your book?"

Levy looked at me intimidatingly, which suprised me, because I wasn't used to be facially threatened someone 4`11.

"Excuse me? _You're_ on your phone. _I'm_ reading. Reading is healthy for the brain intelligence, and a phone can bring down sociality, and books are for a hobby of reading. Plus, _The Ancient Art of Martial Arts_ is strangely entertaining! The writer really knows her history."

"How do you know I'm not reading a downloaded book off my phone?"

"I looked at it," she said a-matter-a-factly. "You're looking up coughing diseases."

I turned off my phone immediately.

"Why are you looking up coughing diseases?" Levy asked, closing her book.

"I... my dad has this thing where he collapses into coughing fits."

Levy looked into space thoughtfully. "It could be a serious case of any kind of over 30 coughing diseases..."

" _Serious_ case?"

"Yeah," she said, calmly. "I'm sorry to say, but your dad may have a serious condition if he's been doing it often."

"He's been doing it for three years now. We learned to cope with it."

"Did he tell you what it was?"

I hesitated. "N-No. That's what worries me."

Levy crossed her arms. "Sorry. It could be anything. I need to see it in action to see what it is."

"I wasn't asking for your help," I said, coldly.

I went back on my phone, searching up other useless things just to piss Levy off about "unsociability." I gave up being outgoing three years ago ever since I started highschool.

I heard a serious voice ring out over the bus. "Fifteen minutes until arrival!" Erza announced.

The kids cheered and a couple of teenagers joined. I saw a small face pop up from the seat in front of me, but I ignored it.

"What'ocha doin'?" Asked the kid.

"None of your buisness. And 'what'ocha' isn't a word," I said, looking up to see a small kid with bright blue eyes and shining blonde hair.

He grinned widely. "My name is Rowan!"

I looked down at my phone and said dryly, "Hello Rowan-kun."

He leaned closer. "What's your name?"

"Hearfilia-san."

"You're first name, dummy!" He giggled.

"Asking for someone else's first name right off the bat is disrespectful!" I said harshly.

He just stuck his tongue out at me, and I looked back down at my phone again.

"Hi, Rowan-chan!" Levy rang out. "My name is Levy! Sorry about Lucy. She's just grumpy today."

"Aww, poor Lu-chan," cooed Rowan. "Is she on girl time right now?"

I gasped and Levy burst out in laughter.

"How did you learn about that?" I asked, shocked.

"My mommy!" He announced. "She taught me all about it saying I would forget or not even care! She's so stupid."

"Your mommy? I thought this was an orphanage outing," I asked.

Levy stopped laughing. "Lucy... don't say that."

I looked at Rowan, and his eyes were filling with tears.

"Oh! Oh my God... I'm sorry! I didn't know," I tried to apologize.

 **.**

Rowan kept crying, then eventually yelling out, "Lu-chan is mean! She's so mean! Please dispose of this monster!"

Truth hit my face. "Damn brat..."

Rowan looked at me and put on a invisible smirk, and winked in real life, but went back to fake-whining. "Lu-chan called be a damn brat! She's so mean!"

"Hey! He's faking!" I said to everyone who was staring at my face.

"No I'm not! I guess Lu-chan is just grumpy because she's on-"

I clasped my hand over Rowan's mouth. Rowan yelped, but recovered by licking my hand in the most disgusting way.

"Uck!" I exclaimed, pulling my hand away, wiping it on my backpack.

"Rowan is actully faking," Levy annouced softly, but everyone heard her. "He winked."

Rowan burst out in laughter, and went tumbling over on his chair. "I guess I'm a good actor, 'cause you fell for it, all ya' dumasses!"

"Who the hell taught this kid language?" I rang out.

"The keeper," a girl in the front answered. "She's a real bitch."

"Woah.." mumbled Levy, amazed. "These kids know how to cuss."

"Don't encourage them!"

"We're here!" Erza interrupted.

"Thank God..." I fell back in my seat in gratefulness.

Levy stood up and grabbed her bag from below her seat. "Can you stand up and go?"

I got up and got out of the row, but got squished between Loke, the annoying flirty guy, and Natsu, the cheeky dense idiot.

"Oi!" Exclaimed Natsu, when I pushed him to go faster. "No pushing!"

"Not my fault, you're too slow," I answered.

Finally, I escaped the hellhole of the bus. I gasped for breath, when I heard three men arguing.

"What the hell are you even mad about, man?"

"I don't know, that you are probably planning to harass her _properly._ "

"Tell him, Jet! You, Gajeel, are just a big buff perv!"

"Hey, Jet, Droy, calm down! It's not a big deal! It was an acciendent, just hear me out-!" Said a small girl's voice.

"We know what we say, Levy-chan."

I walked towards the argument, and saw two men, one with orange hair, and one fat one chewing on a cookie, fighting with a big buff guy with piercings and spiky, long black hair, with Levy inbetween the three.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"None of your business, blondie!" The older kid with orange hair yelled at me.

" _Excuse_ me?" I questioned. "I am the daughter of the Heartfilia Conzern's founder. I suggest you do not call me 'Blondie' and adress me properly as 'Miss' or somethig like that. I do have many lawyers."

The collage graduate with orange hair stared at me. "I met a lot of rich people, so I don't care. I don't even know what Hearty Life Concern is, so I don't care.

The fat one stared at me with... I don't know what. "Yeah, Jet! Blondie'd have some kind of badge or something."

"Enough!" Levy demanded. "Just let me answer Lucy's question! This way, Lucy."

She gestured me to follow her. I did, but wondered why she was bringing me someplace private. I heard behind me, "Jet," "Droy," and the buff dude yelling more. We were a good distance away from the large group.

"So?" I asked. Levy blushed.

"Well, when I got out of my seat, I was pushed against Gajeel... the one with the piercings over there. Laxus, the oldest one in collage in our club, was behind Gajeel. When I was at the end of the bus near the doors, I-I dropped my phone... and.."

Levy squealed and hid her red face.

"Go on. Maybe I could help," I encouraged.

"Well... I bent down to grab my phone, but Laxus didn't know there was me in front of Gajeel, and he pushed him... and Gajeel tumbled into me... and we ended up in an awkward position... Jet and Droy took it the wrong way and thought because of Gajeel's suspicious look... they thought was was gonna one-sidedly kiss me... or something.." Levy hid her red face again.

I stared for a second, but burst out in laughter. "W-Wow! Who knew these things happen in real life!"

Levy looked away.

"Look, I can help you," I said, putting a hand on the embarrased bluenette's shoulder. "I have a plan.

 **.**

"We're heading out to the zoo's gate in five minutes!" Called out Erza's voice over the crowd. "Find your groups!"

"Jet, Droy, Gajeel!" Me and Levy called out to the men.

We caught up, panting from running from our hiding spot.

"I have a way to solve your problem!" I annouced to the trio. I spread my arms. "Reasoning!"

"Oh God..." mumbled Gajeel.

"Okay! First off, Levy told me what happened." I grinned. "Gajeel, were you trying to harass her?

"Eh!?" Gajeel yelled. "Of course not! Do I look like that kind of guy?"

"Moving on," I said, dodging the question. "Jet and Droy. Levy told me that it was totally an accident. Do you believe me?"

Jet and Droy shook their heads in sync. "We want Levy-chan to explain."

Levy turned red, but explained the story. At the end, I saw that Gajeel's face turned a little pink as well.

"Now do you believe me?" Asked Levy. "Would you make up with Gajeel?"

Jet and Droy rubbed the back of their heads. "Gajeel. We're sorry we misunderstood," apologized Droy.

"Yeah. Just don't touch Levy-chan ever again," added Jet, harshly.

"Good! We're good! So let's all-"

"WE'RE HEADING OUT!" Annouced Erza.

"Shit..." mumbled all of us.

We hurriedly ran off to find our groups.

 **~|: Acalypha Public Zoo :|~**

"Alright!" Yelled the "leader" Natsu. "I've never been to Acalypha before!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah! I mean, I drove by it, but never really _been_ here." He grinned.

"Welcome to Acalypha!" I spread my arms.

"You look like you come here all the time," Lisanna stated.

"I sometimes do to visit the factory."

" _Factory?_ " Asked Levy.

"Yeah, factory. My father owns the Heartfilia Konzern factories up in north Acalypha. I thought you guys knew this. With my last name being Heartfilia and all..." I looked around at the faces.

Which they were apparently shocked. "W-What?" Natsu demanded.

"You are _actually_ a Heartfilia?" Asked Lisanna.

"Yeah. Wait... you thought I was lying? I know I'm intelligent, but not intelligent enough to get into the school with just my grades," I answered.

"We could tell by your eyes," Levy stated. "You kept averting them at the meetings, and we thought you were lying."

"Oh..." I turned my face to show that I do that normally.

We finally reached the west entrance.

"Alright!" Yelled Natsu as he spun around. "Time to count the group!"

He started to count mentally, while my I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out my school uniform's pocket, and answered, "Heartfilia-san speaking."

"Hello? Heartfilia Lucy-san?" Asked the speaker.

"This is she," I answered.

"Umm... I don't know how to tell you this... but your maid just brought your father to the hospital... and h-he wants to say his last words to you," she stumbled.

"W-What?" I asked, adrenaline flooding my body. "I'm sorry... I didn't hear you correctly... can you repeat?"

"Your father is dying in the hospital, Heartfilia-san."

 **~Sorry for the cliffhanger! I may post the new chapter late this week, so I kinda feel like a jerk xD The drama branches out from here.~**

 ***P.S: That new chapter of Fairy Tail though... (Chapter 514) :o***


	5. Chapter 5

**~| Lucy's POV : Acalypha Zoo |~**

"Your father is dying in the hospital, Heartfilia-san."

Adrenaline seemed to be flooding out of me. My vision turned blurry. My knees buckled and everything turned hazy. I felt hands on my shoulders, trying to shake me back to myself, but I couldn't see anyone. The shock was huge.

 _Dad's dying? He was fine when I left, but at the club Virgo said he wasn't feeling well... What does he have?! Why doesn't he just tell me?!_

Finally, I felt myself being lifted and saw hazy images of people crowding around me. I couldn't see my carrier, but finally, I blacked out.

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

"Lucy!" I shook the blonde on the shoulders, trying to get her to come back, but she just stared into space, her face pale and way too sweaty. She was panting as much as a dog with her eyes wide.

"Shit!"

I looked around me and more than a dozen faces brimmed with worry. I picked up Lucy's phone and said, "Hello? What did you say to Lucy?"

Loke came over and picked up Lucy bridal-style.

"Hello? Who is this?" a woman on the phone asked.

"It's her friend. What did you say to Lucy?" I yelled into the phone.

"Well.. um... her father is dying in the hospital and he wants to talk to her..." she replied, stuttering.

"Really? I think she's in shock right now!" I looked over to see Loke yelling at her to get her to come back. Lucy passed out in Loke's arms.

"Shit!" Mumbled Loke, and he ran her to the bus.

"She just fainted," I reported. "What hospital? We can drive her over if you give us the address!"

"Mongolia Heath Center and Emergencies," she replied. "The room that her father is in is room 305 B2 on the first floor. You can find it in the emergency center."

"Thanks! Can you get me the address while we drive?"

"Yes."

I turned to Lisanna. "Hey, babe, can you look over the group and do it as usual? We need to take Lucy to the hospital."

"Um... okay," she answered.

"Thanks! I owe you!" I ran into the bus and got in the chair next to Loke to tell him the address.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Mongolia Heath Center and Emergencies |~**

 _Where am I? I just passed out._

 _I think someone took you somewhere._

 _Oh really? Or am I just lying on the ground?_

 _I don't know. We share the same mind, so I don't know what's going on. Duuuh._

 _Shut up. Can you get me to wake up?_

 _No._

 _waaake uuup_

 _No, I'm comfortable._

 _Wake!_

 _NO!  
_

 _YES!_

 _FINE!_

I opened my eyes slowly. I turned to see a pale woman with light pink hair dabbing my forehead with a wet cloth. She was wearing a nurse's uniform, with her name tag, _Aries._

-I slowly got up.

"Oh good, Lucy-san, you're awake. Oh, sorry! Did I wake you up? I'm sorry..."

"That's okay..." I rubbed my face. "Where am I?"

"You're in Mongolia Heath Center. Your boyfriend brought you in here," she turned a shade of pink that matched her hair. "And also another handsome man... oh, sorry! I don't really know who is your boyfriend... but they seem to care a lot about you."

"Huh? Who?"

"A young man, about twenty, with shiny, thick spiked orange hair... with sunglasses," she sighed. "Oh, sorry! I was paying a little too much attention to that one. There's also one with pale pink hair and dark green eyes."

I rubbed my eyes. "God, it's Loke-kun and Dragneel-kun, huh? I was hoping it could be anyone else than that." I perked up. "Wait, why did they bring me here?"

Aries looked down. "I'm sorry... You're father is on the verge of death..."

I stared at her. "HOLY SHIT!" I jumped out of bed, and stared down. My clothes were a thin robe with my undergarmets underneath.

I grabbed my coat hanging on the door and dashed out the room. I saw Loke and Natsu on the waiting chairs outside. I ignored them and stormed down the hall.

"Wait, Lucy!" Natsu's voice rang out. "Do you even know where your going?"

"Umm..." I stopped.

"Fine," I turned around. "Tell me where I'm going."

"B2 305," said Loke.

I ran in the direction he told me to go in, and flung open the door to the room. My eyes widened at the sight, and I almost fainted on the spot.

Virgo and three other maids were sitting on the family chairs surrounding the bed which my pale and sweaty dad was lying on, with his eyes barely open.

"Dad...?" I barely made out of my mouth.

He looked over weakly and smiled. "Hi, honey."

I approached slowly. "Dad... are you okay?"

I heard Natsu and Loke come in, but I ignored them

"Yeah, Luce," he replied. "Fit as a fiddle." He started to cough.

"Dad..." I coughed up tears. "Are you seriously going to die?"

He grimaced. "Yeah... I guess so... Heh... I thought I was tougher." He looked behind me. "Ah, Lucy's friends. Care to introduce yourselves?"

Loke and Natsu approached and bowed. "Hello, Heartifilia-san," Loke started. "I am Loke, and this is my aquantince Natsu... we go to your daughter's school and club."

He squinted at Natsu. "Son, why do you have pink hair?"

"Uhhh..."

A nurse came in and whispered something to the boys, and they followed the nurse out of the room.

I sat down next to my dad and we sat in silence for a while.

A doctor came in and broke the silence. "Hello, sir? Um, we predict you have about an hour left on your life, so we thought we should ask you if you want to wait, or we can inject you."

That was when I burst into tears. "Dad... what do you have? Why did you lie to me about having nothing serious? Tell me _now!"_

My dad sighed. "Honey, I have a serious case of pneumonia, and something else that the doctors couldn't figure out. Most of them thought it was lung cancer. I didn't tell you because pneumonia is easily treated and I thought the mystery sickness wasn't a big deal, until I found out they were both very serious cases, then I didn't want you to worry, and think it was going to be the same thing as your mother. Don't worry, it's not the doctor's fault. They just don't know the cure of serious cases, so it's not that big-a-deal."

I kept sobbing.

"Doctor, you can inject me, I think I'm ready," my dad smiled sadly.

"D-Dad?"

The doctor approached the bed.

"Dad..." I sobbed.

"Honey, I love you. I'll say hi to your mom for you."

"Dad... I love you two.."

My dad squeezed my hand. "Goodbye."

I sobbed harder as the doctor injected the shot, and my dad's eyes went blank and cloudy. The doctor guided me and the sobbing maids out of the room.

I stumbled into Loke's arms and started wailing. Natsu looked uncomfortable, but stroked my hair as Loke comforted me.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Heartfilia Residence |~**

Loke and Natsu rode me home in the bus, which confused some neighbors, but I didn't care. As soon as I got home I fell on my bed and spend the rest of the evening crying.

"I-It's just like mom! She died right before my eyes at the hospital too! I just... I-I can't take it anymore!" I yelled at nothingness.

The maid Virgo knocked on my door and said in a soothing voice, "Princess? May I come in?"

I kept crying but didn't answer. Virgo entered anyway.

"Princess, doth thy want something to eat?"

I hid my puffed up face in a pillow in embarrassment and cried in there instead.

Virgo came over and sat on my bed. She rubbed my shoulder, until I decided to thrust myself into her arms and cry in her chest.

"Virgo... my parents left me! G-God's puni-ishing me..." I wailed.

Virgo rubbed my shoulders. "Princess, God-sama is not punishing thee. Thy is just upset from the passing of Master Jude-sama. God-sama does not punish innocent children. Nature just exists, people live, then they die. The circle of life is a very important process, for thus world will grow too populated without it. Princess just needs to accept the way of things."

I continued crying until I fell asleep, with Virgo's soothing words.

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

"Ugh..." I sighed as I dropped my backpack into the closet. "Today was a _disaster!_ "

"Brother Natsu?" Zeref called from the kitchen. "Are you home?"

I came into the kitchen and rose my arms. "Do you think I am?"

"You know," said Zeref. "You know the propor response to 'Are you home?' Is 'I'm home, brother!'"

"Whatever," I sighed and plopped myself on a kitchen stool.

"How was your day?" Zeref asked.

"Horrible."

"Really? What happened?"

I said nothing but grabbed my dinner and left for my room.

"What... should I do?" I said, sitting on my bed with my laptop. "Watch anime? See how Lucy's doing? Naaah, that'll just be creepy. Ooh, I should see what Lisanna's up to."

I opened up _Skype._ I scrolled through my contacts, but I noticed that Lucy's contact wasn't there, and everyone belonging to the club should be the club leader's contact. So, for a solution, I clicked the contact, _HibikiChickMagnet_ to help me find her contact.

 _"HibikiChickMagnet_ " is a computer nerd who is strangely popular with the girls, has orange hair, and is extremely flirty. He reminded someone else I knew... but I couldn't ever put my finger on it... Did his name start with an L... end in an... A? Hmmm... anyway... He could really help me out with the Lucy contact problem.

I messaged Hibiki, "Sup, bro! Can you do me a favor? A new girl joined the group a few days ago and I need her contact name. Can you find it for me?"

Hibiki almost messaged immediately,

 _Need a contact name for a new girl that quickly? Not to mention that you're asking a friend that is xtremely hot and loves da ladies to get her contact name for you. Aren't you worried that I might steal her from you? Wait... you have a girlfriend... :OOOOOO PERVERT!  
_

I stared at the message and about a million questions crossed my mind right now, but I ignored the really stupid ones and typed,

"Really? First, Who da hell you calling a pervert, you womanizer? You cheat on your girlfriend Jenny with about 15 other girls, and second, IT'S TOTALLY NOT LIKE THAT WITH LUCY! She's just a girl from the club that I need her contact or at least email to send notifications about club events and stuff like that."

 _Okay, fine. But first, I need her measurements._

I grimaced and sent, ".-."

 _Heh he... can I just get her name and age please? Location of school would be nice :3_

"Obviously Mongolia High School Academy for the Rich and Talented, Heartfilia, Lucy, and age is 17. I think C:"

A few minutes passed, then Hibiki sent, _LuKikoIsLucysSoulmate._

 _Geez, this chick is as geeky as hell, having her username as that._ Hibiki sent.

"Whatever," I typed.

I took the contact, then sent a message to Lucy. Feeling satisfied, I video-chat-requested Lisanna.

Shortly, her face popped up, and she looked quite angry.

"Do you want to break up?"

I stared. "What?"

"Do you want to break up?" She repeated harsher.

"Wait what? Why are you asking this?" I asked, confused.

"You seem more distant, and annoyed with my comments on _Kissanime._ Plus, you seem a lot more attracted to that girl Lucy."

"Huh?" I said, intelligently.

"Lucy! Luuucy! She's that cute blondie that you took to the hospital that you looked _soo_ worried about. You've never acted like that to any other girl, meaning you don't think about her in the future as a friend, let alone you don't act that was towards me."

"I act that way to Lucy?"

"Yes! And the way you react to the questions makes you look _reaal attractive,_ Natsu," she added, sarcastically.

"So... I guess you're really angry?"

"Well, yeah!" She crossed her arms.

"Umm..."

"I'm breaking up with you!" She shut off the video chat.

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

"Princess," Virgo shook my shoulder.

I kept on pretending I was asleep.

"Princess!" Virgo shook me until I was flipped into another position.

I thrust out my arms towards Virgo. "VIRGO!"

Virgo stopped pestering me.

I sat up and rubbed my swollen eyes. "What is it?"

"You have a visitor, princess," she said, staring emotionlessly at me.

"Huh? Who?"

A girl with long, brown hair wearing only a bra and small jacket, and black jeans thrust herself into my room, crossing her arms over her chest, smirking evily at me. "'Who' is me! I'm here to cheer ya' up!"

She hopped on my bed and threw her arms around me. I got a huge whiff of alcohol from her hair.

"Wait... you're that drunk person from the club... What the hell are you doing here?" I shook her off of me.

She burst out in laughter. "I'm here to help you out with your dad problem! Think of me as your new best friend! You probably don't know my name, but it's Cana. Niiiice to meet you!" She held out her hand.

I shook it slowly. "Umm... I think you already know, but my name's Heartfilia Lucy..."

"M'kay, Lu-chan!" From her handbag, she pulled out a bottle of sake. "Ready to cheer up?"

"Wait... we're gonna drink? _That's_ your solution?" I asked, staring at the bottle.

"Yuep!"

"Aren't you a minor? Aren't _I_ a minor? Wait... why am I asking these questions... Why are you in my house anyway?" I stared at her. "I could go on with the questions, you know."

"Geez, quit asking. I heard from Natsu and Loke that you were depressed 'cause of the new information of your dad dying and stuff," she explained.

"Awwww c'mon! Dragneel-kun and Loke-kun told? Don't they know anything about privacy? Wait.. how did you get my adress?"

"Natsu knows a guy. And also, we're all family, so Natsu and Loke can tell us anything. Oh, and, you don't need to call Natsu by his last name or add '-kun' to the names. You can if you want to, but none of us care," said Cana.

Me and Cana's phones vibrated at the same time. We looked on the notification center, and saw a message from a group from _Skype_ that Natsu sent a message.

 _Lisanna broke up with me ;-;_

Then Lisanna replied,

 _You don't have to tell everybody!_

Natsu: _But I'm depressed! ;-;_

Cana burst out in laughter and sent,

 _Oi, Natsu, do you needa little hang-out to cheer ya' up? It could be a little more than just friends hanging out c:_

Natsu: _Went drinking, Cana? ._._

Cana: _Nope! :D_

Lucy: _How the hell did I get on this chat group? .-._

Natsu: _Oiiii! You're alive!_

Juvia: _Love Rival!_

Levy: _Guys! Quit flooding up Lu-chan's phone with notifications! She's all depressed about, "You know what..."_

Lucy: _It's fine, McGarden-san... I'm getting over it after a talk with Virgo._

Cana: _Then what's the point at being at your house with two bottles of sake, three of booze, and some whiskey if things got ugly?_

Lucy: _How did the police not catch you yet? O.O_

Levy: _I'm here._

Mirajane: _Mee too. And Kinana_ _. :DDD_

To avoid any more stupid messages, I switched my status to "Do not disturb."

Cana turned off her phone. "Okay! Let the cheering begin!"

I heard the doorbell right outside my room, and Virgo came knocking a few seconds later. "Princess, you have another visitor."

The door to my room opened, and Levy McGarden walked in, holding a normal bag and sleeping bag. "Hi. Hope I'm not interrupting any conversation."

"Heey Levy! See you got my message!" Cana grinned.

"Mira got my message, and I hope you saw it two," Levy smiled.

"Huh? Why are you in my house?" I asked, looking at the sleeping bag in Levy's arms.

"Um... Cana said you were having a sleepover," she replied.

"Huh?"

"I invited Mira two! Not Lisanna though, because she's jealous of you and Natsu. Also Kinana!" Cana annouced.

"What?"

"OFTOC Sleepover!" Levy grinned.

I face-palmed. "This is to cheer me up, huh?"

Virgo knocked on my door. "Princess, you have more visitors. Would you desire some snacks or a movie in the basement?"

"Awwwesome!" Squealed Cana.

"Um... okay? You can do that... Virgo..." I replied, confused of the event.

Two girls walked into my room, both holding backpacks and sleeping bags.

"Girl's night!" The dark-purple-haired Kinana announced.

"We can talk about boys!" The excited white-haired Mirajane squealed.

"Oh God..." I face-palmed.

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

I groaned in my bed for about a half an hour.

Lisanna broke up with me? And for a petty reason too... Liking Lucy? Pushaw. Might as well have hots for a blonde donkey.

A message on my _Skype_ popped up.

 _How's your breakup going?_

Hibiki was the one who sent it.

 _How did you know? .-._ I sent.

 _I didn't. I know now. I just guessed that Lisanna would dump a airhead like you and date a handsome, cool, super tech-genius like me instead of... you._

 _Wait..._ I typed. _Why did you tell Lisanna about the contact search? Awww my God, Hibiki! You just destroyed my relationship!_

 _Did my job :3_

 _Whhhhyyyyy?_

 _Because I want you to get together with Lucy._

I stared at the message.

 _What the hell, man? You haven't even met Lucy._

 _I know, but Mira-tan and Cana-chan told me all about her and I thought you two would work out. Cana-chan and Mira-tan agrees._

I face-palmed and shut off my computer.

"Zeref!" I called.

Sooner than ten seconds, Zeref appeared in my room. "Brother?"

"I need chocolate syrup..." I mumbled when I had my face in my pillow.

"What happened?" Zeref asked.

"Ummm..." I looked up. "I just watched episode sixteen of _Clannad: After Story?"_

Zeref stared. "Okay? Whatever Brother wants... Do you want a banana with that?"

"No!" I protested. "No bananas! Anything but bananas..."

Zeref walked away and I hid a face-palm in my pillow.

 **~| Lucy's POV |~  
**

"Where did you get this alcohol?" I asked, inspecting the packs of beer.

"Local booze shop," Cana replied, grinning. "The guy asked me about my age, but I reminded him that the Mongolia age limit is eighteen. I'm nineteen."

"Oh," I said. I gave the beer packets back to Cana. "I'm a year too young then."

Kinana raised her hand next to me. "Me too."

Levy on the left side of me did the same.

"Awww come on!" Cana slug her arms over our shoulders behind us. "You guys! This is a sleepover to get Lucy out of her depression! We can drink if we want. I asked the manager of the shop."

"Yeah!" Said Mira. "You guys can drink if you want to."

We were all on my bed, which made things a little crowded, but I sorted everyone out. Where they were sleeping, where to put their stuff, and where to normally sit while we talked.

"Still," I said, after we were all set up. "I think I'm going to pass. Strauss-san and Albernona-san, you guys can drink if you want to."

Mira and Cana clanked bottles.

"Down the hatch!" Said Cana, then poured the bottle of sake down her throat.

Virgo came in and handed me, Kinana, and Levy snacks and soda.

"Princess, you better not drink," cautioned Virgo. "I don't know about your friends, but your a year too young. You could get horribly sick."

I nodded, thanking Virgo, and she left.

"Okay!" Mira said excitedly. "What should we do? Should we talk or play a game?"

"Mira," I said, dodging the question. "I have a question."

"Question away."

"Okay," I started. "Why does everyone in the club at school watch _Fairy Tail_ and love it?"

"Oh!" Mira exclaimed. "We get asked this a lot. Believe it or not, every anime-loving or otaku clubs in Japan have a certain popular anime to love. Like, _Tokyo Ghoul_ or _One Piece_. We're _Fairy Tail_. The developers of the club, Erza, Natsu, and Lisanna-niichan invited their anime-loving friends and started the club like Erza's childhood friend joined one in her school. We invited everyone we knew and they loved the idea, including the people I know in collage or used to know. We put up posters, but people that heard of the club just called us a bunch of weeaboo's, but we just want to enjoy our hobby and make friends through it. We continued, but we became unknown to new students who loved anime, so if anybody like you comes in by accident, we'd want people to join and not be called a weeaboo like everybody else called us. We have a reason for the club, which I said earlier, we want to make friends through a hobby."

"Oh," I said, when Mira finished. "That's a great reason."

"It is," Cana added. "I hope you have more respect for the club now."

I felt my face burn and I bowed my head to hide my shameful face.

"Aww don't be like that!" Levy squeezed me in a hug next to me. "Mira-chan... We need to play a game to really cheer this one up."

"Okay!" Mira clapped her hands. "Let's play the game all middle-schooler girls play! Truth or Dare!"

"Oh God," I said through Levy squeezing the breath out of me.

 **~Next chapter is on Monday, and we'll get a lot of laughs through that chapter ;) One more thing, if you guys want to ask a question, please PM me and not leave a reveiw for a question. I reply a lot to messages, but sometimes the reveiw questions don't work and the questions can take up space for things like criticism or comments. Please PM at my normal account HannahPlusAnime if you have a question. I don't judge ^_^ Look forward to next chapter!~**


	6. Chapter 6

**~| Lucy's POV : Heartfilia Residence : OFTOC Slumber Party |~**

"Lucy," Cana grinned directly in my face. "Truth or dare?"

"I think I'm going to die if I choose dare... Truth," I replied, scared out of my wits.

"Don't go too hard on her," Defended Levy.

"Alrighty..." Cana sighed, looking into space. "Give us your details about your first date."

"Original," mused Levy.

"Umm..." My face turned red.

"Oh!" Squealed Mira. "She's blushing! It must be dirt-" Kinana inturrupted her by clasping her hand over Mira's mouth.

"Shush," she commanded the white-head.

"Uhh... The truth is..." I stumbled over my words.

Everyone leaned in closer, eager.

"I never a-actually had a-a f-first date..."

Everyone looked mournfully disappointed, except Cana, who clapped her hands, cheering, "Then give us details of what you'd want it to be like! The boy, the outfit, what'da do, what'da eat, things like that!"

"Okay, just calm down, Cana!" I stopped her, when Cana kept giving options. "Seriously, do all questions have to be about boys?"

Mira nodded, and I took a deep breath.

"I'd wear a summer dress with a long cardigan... and we'd go to the movies, have a small meal at the cafe afterwards. First date stuff, you know..." I blushed and hid my face.

"Who'd you go with?" Asked Levy.

"Oh, I didn't think about that..." I looked up, thoughtfully.

I never actully had a crush before. All the guys just seemed either over-attracted to me, or afraid of me, so I never went out with someone. Nothing about my boy status rung a bell, for I knew nothing or nobody I could ever go out with.

"Oooh, Lisanna's been jealous of Lucy for a while, so probably she thinks that Lucy's in love with Natsu," Mira mused.

"Awww, they'd make a good couple!" Kinana laughed.

"I never thought about that," I broke in.

"So do you like him?" Cana asked.

"If I denied, you'd probably just keep asking or not leave me alone with strange theories. If I said yes, you'd all be screaming right now, so I really don't know what to say, so I'm just going to leave you off with this question. 'Do I look like I like Natsu?'"

"Yes," replied Cana, simply.

"That's a good point, Lu-chan," said Levy. "How do the professors think of you? I know in the academy they don't give very specific grades."

"Um... they sometime praise me," I replied, shyly.

"Ooh!" Bursted out Kinana, suddenly. "I know who Lucy should be with! Loke!"

"Loke?" Everyone asked, including me.

"I've never thought of that," Cana mused.

"Ship comfirmed!" Mira exclaimed, shoving her index finger in the air.

"Guys, guys, seddle down, I'm not interested in Loke!" I protested.

"Then who the hell do you like, woman?!" Cana demanded.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

 **.**

 **~| The Next Day : Saturday : 1:30 |~**

 **.**

I sighed and slid down the front door, which Kinana just exited. Finally, all the guests were gone and it was just me and whatever workers were still here, and haven't gone home for the weekend.

I rubbed my eyes from exhaustion. I remembered last night when we went to bed (which was at 3:27 AM)Cana declined sleeping on the floor like all the other guests and slept in my bed with me. Mira woke up screaming from a nightmare at 4:26 AM and Cana, after that, whispered her past relationships in her sleep to me, and I stayed awake for the rest of the night. Who wouldn't?

Besides all that, the sleepover hasn't been all that bad. Sure, I hardly got any sleep, but the girls did a good job for getting me out of the dumps from the death of my father.

I got up from my position on the door, and went into the kitchen to gratefully make a sandwich for lunch. Cancer the butler came in, wearing his usual sunglasses and bulter uniform.

"Mistress Lucy," he said. "I'm here to inform you that I will be leaving for the weekend to my home now, and the other parts of the staff has gone. Also, Virgo-san asked me to tell you that your father's funeral is tomorrow and you will go to City Hall for the inheritance of the buisness, Heartfilia Konzern."

"Huh? City Hall?"

"Yes," he replied. "City Hall because your father left no legal will and you are not eighteen yet, so it causes confusion. Good day."

He left me alone in the midst of processing what he just said.

 **.**

 **~| The Next Day : Sunday : Mongolia City Hall |~**

 **.**

"Okay, Heartfilia Lucy. I am glad you are here with your relatives," said Mayor Makarov.

"Um, thank you," I said.

We were in City Hall with my cousin, Sting and his younger twin, Rouge, with their parents. My cousin Sting seemed pretty proud of himself for possibly inheriting his uncle's buisness instead of "Oh-So-Young-Lucy-chan." I felt miserable. After my father's funeral, didn't think I could do this, but I decided to go, or I'd be completely broke.

"I see that these are your only relatives, and Sting-kun will most likely inherit Heartfilia Konzern, but we need to sort that out," Mayor Makarov said.

"Yes," I nodded.

"So, Lucy-kun, can you say your story, and identity to sort this out?"

"Um," I started. "My father has always had this unknown sickness for three years along with a serious case of pneumonia. He one day fallen ill, and my maid, Virgo, took care of him until he was hospitalized. He died there... a-and he apparently left no legal will for anyone to inherit the business or house... or money. I'm Heartfilia Lucy, and I am seventeen, female, driver's license, no prescription medical or visual," I explained all the details I know that could've been useful.

"Very good," mused the Mayor. "Sting-kun, can you explain how you found out this news of your uncle's death and your identification?"

Sting ran his hand through his light blonde hair. "Yes, Mayor."

"I was having a totally normal day, flirting with my dear crush, Yukino at my collage, until, poof! I got the email about my uncle dying. Sadness spread throughout me!" He thrust both hands to his heart, dramadically. "But I also thought, _Oh my is be! Possibly light comes through this darkness of news, and I could have a beautiful future ahead of me!_

"I witnessed Uncle's funeral this morning, and it was very sad, but I was secretly discouraged of all things, being haunted of the ghost of Uncle through his buisness, so I am scared... sadness over comes all things of my fear..." He finally perked up and said quickly, "My name is Sting Eucliffe, I am nineteen, male, licensed, prescription of strange allergy to dark meats," he explained useless information.

Mayor Makarov was teary from Sting's speech of encountering my father's death. "Beautiful..." He coughed to clear his throat. "Lucy, do you have any guardians at the moment?"

"Uh... unless I leave Mongolia to Fiore, then I'd live with the Eucliffes', but I have butlers and maids I know pretty well..."

"Hmm... So you have possible guardians?" He asked, leaning forward.

"Yes."

"Do they have their own homes?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... ... ... I'm leaning toward Sting-kun owning the buisness, because he knows about the buisness more than you, who is just a beginner in a collage academy. Sting-kun could inherit if he graduates with credits and hard work, but you have a long way to go, Lucy Heartfilia-kun. If you live with a staff member... I could allow a small amount of money to be sent into your account if Sting-kun allows it."

I stared at the Mayor, jaw dropped.

"Uh..." I looked over to Sting, who was smirking at his twin brother, Rouge.

Rouge just looked as gloomy as ever, probably dissapointed he was left alone to take care of his boring family restraunt.

"Sting," I walked over to his chair, and Sting got up. "Good job, and congratulations."

"Thanks, Heartfilia-kun," he replied, smiling.

"You don't need to call me that," I said, frowning.

"Heh, ten years of demanding respect and now you accept that we don't need to be so 'respectful' because we're cousins?"

"No," I said, looking up. "I just... now that both of my parents are gone, it feels like whenever someone calls me by my surname, I'll always be reminded of them."

"Oh. You don't want to remember them?"

"No," I sighed.

"Anyways," he skipped over the depressing subject. "Thanks for giving up the business!" He grinned in the most idiotic way.

I squinted at him. "You... reminded me of someone there..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing..." To avoid any questions, I signed the buisness away to Sting on the certificate and quickly left the office.

"What am I going to do now?" I asked myself.

I looked on my phone. _Should I ask Virgo if I can stay at her place? She's the one I know most._

I texted her, _Virgo, I got some bad news. Since my dad died, the buisness has been signed away, so has the house and money, so I got no place to stay, and you have nowhere to work now that the house is gone. Can I stay at your place until this is all worked out?_

I put my phone back in my bag until a few minutes later, it rang.

 _Princess, that would be possible. If you shalt work it out in the future, it shall be so._

 _\- Maid Virgo, Sent 2:37_

 **.**

I got off the bus from my jorney to my house to pack my stuff before all of it was all going to get repossessed. I was at the place where Virgo wanted to pick me up and take me to the "suprise" home. It was a small shop that sold French maid outfits, and as strangely popular.

I sat down at a stone bench and went on the phone to watch a little bit of _Ao No Exorcist_ or, _Blue Exorcist_ that Natsu recommended and said, "YOU'LL LOVE IT SO MUCH! It'll cheer you up and get you on the edge of your seat!"

Finally, after about an hour of waiting, I saw a small blue car pull up into the parking lot. Virgo stepped out and, strangely, she was wearing her French maid outfit. Shrugging the strangeness off, I went to the car.

We rode in silence for a half of an hour until we got to a apartment building in the city.

It was small, but decent and clean. Bricks for the walls and the stairs and enterence were polished stone. Inside was a nice lobby with polished wood floors and wood stairs and upstairs there was a carpet floor with the walls the same.

We checked in and I got a good look at the room doors when we were searching for Virgo's room. I never got to know how she lives, but now I guess I'll find out.

We entered Virgo's room which was a small kitchen, about an average loft area, and two rooms for a bedroom and bathroom with shower.

"This is really pretty!" I exclaimed, as I took in the beauty of the room.

"Thank you, Princess," Virgo replied.

"You know Virgo," I said as I sat down on the couch and started to unpack my things. "You can stop calling me 'Princess' now that you don't work for me anymore."

"Heartfilia-sama?"

"Ummm... no..." I replied, cringing.

"Mistress Lucy?"

"How about just, Lucy-san?" I said, spreading a blanket for a place to sleep on the couch.

"As you wish, Lucy-san."

"Thank God..." I whispered.

After I was finished with my living area, I decided to look for jobs. I sat on my "bed" on the couch, and searched jobs available In the area for a ungraduated female collage student. Finally, when I was dissatisfied, I got up and changed in the bathroom to my usual skirt and hoodie to go out in public to look for a job.

"Virgo," I called in the kitchen to Virgo, who was cooking something on the stove. "I'm going out to look for a job."

"Okay, Lucy-san. Be safe."

"Can I use your car?"

"Are you licensed?"

"Um..." I thought she already knew, but I answered anyway, "Yes."

"Take the keys, Lucy-san."

"Thanks! Bye!" I left.

I drove around for a while, looking for a mildly popular place that may need help and or employees, but all the restraunts and stores in malls looked perfectly fine.

Finally, about after an hour of searching around the area, my eye caught a small building in the corner.

It had a brownish exterior painted wood, with blue-tinted glass and looked adorable. On the sign it said, _Late's Latte Coffee Cafe._ I giggled at the name and entered, whispering, " _Excuse me..._ "

In the coffee shop was cuter than outside. It was small and cozy with small two-person tables scattered around the shop. The walls were a little darker inside, but it made it more inviting. The shop was warm and smelled like a bakery. Little floral paintings hung from the walls and plants in the corners gleamed with life.

In the corner of the room there was a desk with a blonde woman with a pony tail. She was reading a beauty magazine and humming to herself.

"Oh," she looked up from her paper. "I'm sorry, we're currently closed."

"Um... I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm looking for a job... and I was wondering if you guys are accepting new employees," I replied.

The woman stood up, and I saw she was wearing a waitress uniform and a name tag that said, _Jenny._

I gasped. "Are you the former model Jenny Realight from _Worker's Weekly?_ "

She smiled. "Yes I am, but I decided to get engaged and settle down in a small buisness for some damn reason. Welcome to Late's!"

She started to walk over and studied me.

"Um..." I said, when she was studying every inch of me. "May I ask, Realight-san... what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see if you're the right material... Hibiki!" She called to the door near the back.

A few seconds later, a man with orange-brown hair and a vest-suit appeared, holding a tray of tea and cakes.

"Yeah, Honey? I'm trying to 'presentate' these beautiful cakes to be more beautiful!" He smiled into space.

"Great! Now we can eat them with our guest," Jenny replied.

Hibiki looked at me and glared. "You're not going to eat the cakes, are you?"

"I'm just... I'm just looking for a job..." I answered, awkwardly.

"Hmm... we could use more waitresses. Believe it or not, this place gets kind of popular, and I need Jenny-chan here to help me out in the kitchen," he replied, placing the tray on the table next to him.

"May you introduce yourself?" Asked Jenny.

"Ah, yes. My name is Heartfilia, Lucy. You can call me whatever you like."

Hibiki perked up. "Heartfilia Lucy?"

"Yes?"

Hibiki walked over and stared me straight in the face.

"Uhh..." I mumbled, awkwardly.

"Lucy-chan, this is my fiancé, Hibiki," Jenny smiled at me. "It was _his_ idea to start a bakery if you're wondering... He always acts like this to employees, and most of them gets sent home."

Hibiki pulled away. "Do you happen to be seventeen and go to Mongolia Academy, the High school and Collage?"

"Yes... How do you know?"

"I have a friend who wanted to stalk you," he replied.

"Who?" I asked, eagerly. _Who the hell would want to stalk me?_

"His name is Natsu. I think he's the leader of a club or something."

" _Natsu?"_

"Yuep!"

"Anyway," Jenny broke in. "I think she's good material."

"Me too," her fiancé agreed.

"Um... should I do a job interview or something?" I asked.

"Naww," Hibiki laughed. "A perfect woman like you just needs a test!"

Jenny led me into a room and handed me a waitress uniform. I took it and changed. It was a little short for my taste, about an inch shorter than my collage uniform's skirt, but I shrugged it off. I came out.

"Adorable!" Jenny squealed.

The uniform was a black dress with small plaits, that had overall straps with white long sleeves underneath.

"She passed that test," agreed Hibiki. "No wonder Natsu wanted to stalk her."

I coughed. "I'm sorry, sir, but please do don't make that assumption."

"Next!" Jenny clapped her hands. She handed me a tray with stones on it. "Hold this with one hand palm-up, then walk around."

I did as she told me, and succeeded in a little wobble.

"She's perfect!" Jenny squealed.

"Yes," replied Hibiki. "I think she'll do."

"If you can work a schedule, Lucy-chan, I think this'll work!"

"Okay," I smiled. "I'll work one out, and maybe I'll email it to you."

"Yay!" Jenny hugged me. "Good luck!"

 **.**

 **~|: Virgo's House : The Next Day :|~**

 **.**

I woke up to a strange sound right next to me. It was a blur, but I looked around to see what was going on. I realized it was my phone vibrating. I picked it up and answered the call.

"Mmmmh, Who is it?" I said, groggily.

"Lucy! Get up! It's 8:30 and you're not even here!" Yelled a voice.

"EH?" My eyes shot to the time on the top of my phone screen. "Who is this?"

"Milianna!" The girl answered. "First period is starting!"

"HOLY CRAP!" I jumped out of what I thought was my bed, but when my feet hit hard wood floors instead of carpet, I slipped on the polishing, and fell.

I ran to the bathroom, and realized I haven't unpacked my stuff into the bathroom from yesterday. I got my stuff out, and yelled, "VIRGO! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME?!"

Virgo left her room with her expressionless face and she appeared into the living room where I was desperately brushing my hair.

"I thought you wanted more time to sleep, Lucy-san," said Virgo.

"Don't do it next time!" I shot at her, forcing my collage uniform on me.

I brushed my teeth as quick as I could, and, not bothering to put on makeup, I ran out the door.

 **.**

 **~|: Mongolia Academy :|~  
.**

After finally realizing that I needed Virgo's keys to drive Virgo's car, I got to the academy about a half hour late. High school students were already arriving, and me, a collage student, was stared at and questioned.

I finally got to the top floor to second period.

"Computer Science..." I squealed, rushing out of the room to my bin, pulling out my laptop, and rushing back.

My friend, Beth, commented, "Heartfilia-chan, you're sure a mess today."

"Thanks for reminding me..." I said, collapsing on my chair.

"I mean, you missed first period," she went on. "Then you forgot your laptop, you aren't wearing any makeup, you're hair's all weird, and you look like you forgot half your books."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, groping through my bag, I found that she was right. "Damn it! I'm such a klutz!"

Beth shrugged, making her orange country braids bounce. "Oh well. At least you're here. I hope you just don't face Minerva-sensei's wrath when she found out that you missed 'Career Choice.' I mean, it's really important, since we're already collage students, and we're just here... because we have nothing to do. But we have hope!"

"Shut up..." I mumbled, just when Sensei Minerva burst open the door.

Her face was clearly at wit's end. All the instincs in my body told me to _run._

"Heartfilia-san!" She yelled at me. "Silver-Sensei told me that you missed Career Choice! You fool! You already know you have no hope! That class is for hopeless collage students to get useless hope to actually have a chance to survive!"

She went on, and for the rest of between classes, I had one long lecture.

 **.**

"Worst... day... ever..." I sighed.

I finally got to the Mock Court class room. I opened the door to find all the students gathered on tables, staring at the door.

"You guys were waiting for me?" I asked.

"Yes!" Mira cried, running towards me, squeezing me in a bone-crushing hug. "Wendy-chan said she heard from Principal Grandeeny-sama that you skipped a class, and we were worried that you became a rebel from trauma!"

"Huh?" I asked.

I pushed myself out of Mira's grip, and looked at the young high-schooler. "How do you know the principal?"

"She's my step-mom," she answered, beaming.

"Principal Grandeeny-sama has a foster kid?"

Wendy nodded.

"Okay," I said, stepping out of the current subject. "I got here really late because I didn't have my alarm clock and Virgo didn't wake me up. Milianna-chan woke me up by calling me."

"Ooh!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Why didn't you have your alarm clock?" Natsu asked.

"I..." I hesitated. "Um... I'll tell you guys later. Let's just do the meeting."

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

"I... Um... I'll tell you guys later. Let's just do the meeting," Lucy said nervously.

I stared after her as she walked and joined the group of girls at a table. I turned to Loke next to me.

"Hey," I said to him. "Do you think Lucy's okay? Her dad just died and she seems... way too positive, but a little nervous."

"So?" Said Loke, hardly paying attention and staring at his phone.

"So... do you think Cana was gentle with her at their 'secret' slumber party? I don't think Lucy's old enough for acohol... I'm kind of worried."

"Worried for your crush?" Loke smirked.

"No," I replied. "I'm just worried for one of my club members. Should I not be?"

"Good. No crush? Then I'll ask her out."

"Are you just kidding, going to just flirt, or seriously want to start a relationship? Because the last one seems impossible for you-"

"I'm going to start a serious relationship," Loke interupted, finally looking up from his phone. "I heard the Heartfilia Konzern just went to a new owner, so that's not Lucy. She needs a place to stay, so when we get more comfortable, I'll ask her to my place. She looks like a mess, so she's probably not with someone with her usual wealth."

"Huh? You've never asked a girl out for a _reason_... That's weird..." I said, looking up in wonder.

"Oh well..." Sighed Loke, and he got up and walked towards the girls. I decided to follow for the sake curiosity.

Mira, Kinana, Lisanna, Levy, Erza, Juvia, and Lucy were all at the table, and they all looked toward Loke who was approaching. Most of them put on faces of disgust.

"Lucy," Loke smiled. "Are you willing to accompany to dinner and a movie on Saturday?"

Mira and Juvia gasped. "DEVELOPMENT!" They cried.

Lucy looked up at Loke. "Huh?"

"Do you want to go out with me?"

"That's not a big suprise that he's asking you out," said Levy.

"Aww, Levy-chan, are you saying I'm that attractive?" Lucy cooed.

 _Huh?_ I thought. _When have they became best friends? When has Emo-Lucy been girly?_ I decided to shake off the wondering and watched the failure.

"No," replied Levy. "No offense, Lu-chan, but Loke asks all the girls out."

"Loke hasn't asked Juvia out. Neither has he asked you out, Levy," Pointed out Juvia.

"That's not important," Said Levy, blushing with shame. "Lu-chan, what are you going to do?"

Lucy looked around, and said shamelessly, "Okay, Loke. I'll go out with you."

Mira squealed and Lisanna helped Levy to calm her down.

Lisanna made slight eye-contact with me, but she quickly glared and looked away.

I sighed. "This is going to be a disastrous week."

 **I hope I left off at a good spot.**


	7. Chapter 7

**~| Don't forget, if you spot a mistake in the story, or have a question, please PM me |~**

 **Tuesday**

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

"Lucy-san," said a voice.

The voice was shaking me when I was still half-conscience.

"Lucy-san, you have to go to the academy, and thoust's thy first day of labor," said the voice.

I looked up, and saw Virgo (still in her French maid outfit) trying to wake me up.

I got up. "Huh? Labor.. oh... at Late's Latte..."

I looked at the clock. Virgo finally woke me up on time, for it was 7:10 AM.

I remembered that also after work, I was going out with Loke at 20:30. I smacked my head. I decided to put on my collage uniform, then pack my cafe uniform with a normal dress for the date in my backpack. I put on makeup as best as I could, for first date's sake.

A sudden thought struck my head. _Lucy, look how hopeless you are. You're in community collage, but you're better off in highshool, for the collage and high school is in the same academy, and you don't have any plans for the future, that's why you're not going into a university. You started dating at the age of 17. You're the daughter of a big-shot factory creator, but since your father died, you live in your maid's house, and barely have enough money to pay for your phone and you don't know what's going to happen if you don't pay for your community collage classes. Hopeless._

I face-palmed myself for the silent thought and for being so hopeless.

Virgo handed me a lunchbag and hugged me.

"Virgo," I said before I left. "Where are you currently working?"

"Lucy-san, I am working at my favorite French maid uniform shop down the corner. They accepted me gratefully, and thoust paying me generously, so thou Lucy-san musn't worry," Virgo said with a smile, but her eyes stayed expressionless as usual.

"Okay, I'll take the bus today, and Loke'll be dropping me off, so I don't need any rides," I said, then I left.

 **.**

Taking the bus was weird, but I managed to get to school. I was a little late, which Sensei Silver scolded me for it. Beth in between classes told me that I was really falling apart this week, but I ignored it.

The problem now, was my schedule. I needed to get to work at 18:20, so going to the club at 13:30 left me a half an hour at the club, so I needed to leave half-way between an episode, and silently say goodbye to my friends and Loke so I could get to work.

 **.**

 **~|: Late's Latte Coffee Cafe :|~  
.**

"Late-kun, Relight-san, I'm here," I said as I stepped into the small bakery at the back of the coffee shop.

Jenny embraced me in a friendly hug. "Awww, Lu-chan, don't call us by our last names! Welcome back to Late's!"

Hibiki shook my hand.

"I'll go get dressed into my uniform," I smiled at them, then I changed into my cafe uniform.

 **.**

 **~| Natsu's POV : Mongolia Academy :|~**

 **.**

I watched as Lucy sneeked out the door, then I sighed.

 _What the hell is that girl up to?_ I thought. She probably had her own personal bizz about her losing her fortune, and maybe got a job or is taking serious night classes for a good job.

I shrugged it off and watched the rest of the episode of _Fairy Tail._

After it finished, we discussed the chapter that released yesterday.

"That guy, Rehkeid is weird... a Dragoin? It doesn't really add up.. and the theories aren't helping," said Gray.

"Gray, clothes," reminded Cana.

"I swear, this is the worst habit on the planet!" Exclaimed Gray.

"It's just like Llyod," commented Levy.

"Enough with Ice Underwear's perverted habits and let's talk about the chapter," I interuppted.

"I love how Ryos works with Tomoko, and I find it really cute! But... I want the cat-loving Harmony to be with Ryos... EEK! The feels are real right now..." Said Mira, confused.

The conversation continued, until the club meeting ended when Loke grinned, "Sorry, everyone, but I have a date with Blondie McHots, A.K.A, Heartfilia, Lucy!"

I glared at him, but Loke only grabbed his jacket and bag and left.

"Oi, Mira," I called out to Mira, who was talking to Kinana. Both of them walked over. "I don't think you're the best person to ask, but is it strange that I'm mad about Loke going out with Lucy?"

Mira gasped. "DEVELOPMENT!"

"Huh?" I questioned.

"I should of known! I mean," then she started to mumble. "I mean.. your pink hair and stuff... how you don't seem to..." she gasped again.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms behind my head.

"You..." She pointed.

I rose my eyebrows.

"Are..." she spinned her finger in my face.

"Jelous..."

I started to glare.

"Of Lucy!" She grinned.

I stared. "... ... ...Huh?"

Kinana's eyes got wide. "I should of known!"

"Huh?" I asked, but they ignored me.

Mira finally turned towards me. "You like Loke!"

I glared. "No Mira, I do not."

Kinana stared me straight in the face. "Actually... Natsu doesn't seem to be gay... I mean, he seems to... hmm... it's like he's truthfully denying it."

"Erza!" I called to avoid the crazy girls giggling to eachother.

Erza stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, Natsu. What do you need?"

"I need you to answer my question. I asked Mira, but she just accused me of being gay for no reason, so..."

"What's the question?" Erza asked.

"I'm getting a bad feeling from Lucy dating Loke. Loke's plan is to get Lucy a place to stay after they get pretty close in their relationship, but I'm kind of mad at Loke for thinking that."

Mira and Kinana walked over. "It could be Natsu liking Lucy..." Mumbled Mira.

"Leave," I glared at the girls.

"The logical explaination," said Erza. "Is that you're worried about a club member getting too weird, and it could ruin the reputation of having a good and clean club, and if those two split, it could cause major problems for the club's future."

"Oooh, okay! Thanks, Erza," I thanked her gratefully.

After everyone left, I stayed behind and looked at the floor.

 _Good... It's not what I thought it was..._

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

"Lucy!" Hibiki's voice called from the bakery.

I always wondered if people came to buy treats at the counter of a bakery, or just let waiters and waitresses wait on them. Apparently people can't make up their minds at Late's.

I went back and forth waiting on people, filling drinks, bringing them to them, working at the cash register, and putting orders on the counter for people who wanted to get them themselves.

The bakery was suprisingly busy. For such a strange location, the bakery was probably a cute little coffee shop which is the highlight of the street.

I hurried over to where Hibiki called to me. I grabbed the plate of fruit, a muffin, and a little tea cup of coffee. He reminded me who it belonged to. He said, "This belongs to the older lady with the floral hat."

My eyes scanned the coffee shop, and I spotted an old lady with a floral hat reading a book at a small table in the corner. She didn't have any food so I made up my mind to bring it to her.

"Ma'am," I said, politely.

The old woman looked up from her book and looked at me. She smiled.

"Well, pretty, young woman," she said, kindly. "Thank you so much for bringing my order."

"Well," I said cheerfully, as I placed the plate and cup before the woman. "Well, it's my job. I got to pay for my cell phone. Thank you so much for spending your time at Late's Latte Cafe." I bowed, and was off.

I looked at the clock and was suprised. "It's that late?"

It was 20:28, and I realized that Loke was going to pick me up really soon. I walked into the bakery in the back to tell Hibiki this.

"Hibiki-kun, I have to get dressed. My shift is over," I bowed. "Thank you for letting me serve."

Hibiki didn't seem to notice, but he just kept making the rolls. I decided to let it slide, and I went off to the bathroom to get dressed into my date outfit.

It was a blue dress with floral leggins, along with my plain black coat. I got dressed, and when I got to the lobby, Loke was waiting at the front door.

Loke smiled when he looked from his smartphone. "Hey, Blondie. What's up?"

I smiled back. "I'm doing great. I just got off work, so only a little tired. What are we doing today?"

"Eh, I was thinking probably a walk and a little ramen. Just something light," he replied.

"Mkay. Bye, Jenny-san, Hibiki-kun!" I called to them. I noticed that the cafe was now empty. The sun was down, so that made sense.

We went off walking in the streets.

"Sorry for going out so late," I apologized

Loke shrugged. "I actully wanted to go out late. The lights are better like this."

I agreed.

We walked on, until we got to a small ramen shop. We entered and it was almost as small and cute as Late's. _Almost_.

I ordered egg soup and some stir-fry, and Loke ordered Toyma-sama Ramen.

We ate in peace, then went out on a walk again. Loke suprisingly grabbed my hand while we were walking, but I yanked away.

Loke looked suprised, or I think so. I couldn't see well through the dark and his sunglasses.

"Sorry," I said. "I don't think we're that close yet."

Loke shrugged it off. "So, where do you want to go now?"

"Did you not plan for anything, like a movie or something?" I asked.

"Nope."

I sighed.

We walked in silence for a while. I decided to break the silence.

"We could go to the movies. Or the park. The park's nice at night."

Loke shrugged. "M'kay. Let's go to the movies. I can take you to the park next date."

A thought struck my head. _Next date? What? Is he planning to ask me out again?_

The date so far hasn't been particularlly fun or time-spending. But, what do I know about dates? I didn't know if this was a waste of time or something I should be doing. I pushed away the thought. I'd possibly be better out here then at home watching something like _InuYasha_ to spend my time.

We arrived at the movies. It was 9:00, so not a lot of movies were going on, but an American animated movie was playing at 9:15. It was called, Artifical Emotions, PG-13, Four Stars, and I've never seen an American animated movie that was rated PG-13, so I suggested it to Loke.

We gladly took the tickets and we decided to buy pop corn and drinks to prepare, and we waited in front of the doors with a few other couples. We talked about anime, the club, and the newest chapter of _Fairy Tail_. I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone about it, so we decided to do it there.

Finally, after 10 minutes of talking and five minutes of buying popcorn, we were let in.

The movie was about a future were only artifical beings roamed the Earth instead of humans. There were no human emotions, no love, no anger, no sadness inside these creatures and the mortal creators of the artifical humans thought the world was perfect. The humans eventually died, and the organic species was no more, so the artifical beings live their lives without rulers or leaders.

Eventually, the artifical beings felt small emtions like confusion and slight anger, so the world was a small bit in chaos. Artifical humans decided to have rulers, and learned the history of mortals, and science, etc. so that they can know the secrets, and intelligence to rule the beings.

 **(*Pronouced See-air)**

A little female being named Ceir ***** discovered a diary of a human girl who lived in her dwelling long before her, and Ceir learned about the past human's love life, and Ceir thought it was the most wonderful thing she heard about. The more she read, the more she felt a yearning for the emotions. She heard about the human falling off her vehicle biycle, and breaking her ankle. Ceir learned about pain, but was truly dissapointed when she stabbed herself, she felt nothing.

Ceir learned about the life of the human species, and was intrigued beyond her artifical being nature, that the leaders were notified about it. Ceir presuaded the leaders to give her the emotions of mortal humans, in exchange of her being a leader and having hard work ahead of her.

Ceir tried to tell her companions at her school about human emotions, and falling in love with her male friend in the process. Her friends did not understand, and Ceir fell into dispair. She eventually burned the diary, and purposefully erasing her memory of it, but she was still in love with her male friend. She didn't want to destory the emotions, so, graduating early, became a leader for her country, but knowing that the distopia she lived in was emotionless and shallow.

The movie ended with a cliff-hanger of Ceir about to fight for human emotions, and a second movie was yet to come out. I cried a little, but I hid it for my dignity around Loke.

"That was a good movie," said Loke while we were back outside.

I agreed, and he dropped me off at Virgo's apartment.

I flopped on my make-shift bed on the couch and sighed. "Is this what it's like having a boyfriend? If it is... do I like it, or do I feel dissapointed?"

 **~|: Wednesday : Mongolia Academy :|~  
**

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Yelled Natsu after we did the intro. "Today we're going to do something different than our usual meeting doing pretty much nothing. We're going to be helpful to the highschool students, but highschool students attending this club have to help out two. We're going to do adacemy student service where the collage students prepare for a special event happening to the highschool students of the academy. Erza, would you please take over?" Natsu sat back down on his chair on the stage.

"So," said Erza, reciting from a piece of paper. "We're going to split up into teams for the special event for the highschool students. They are having a school dance. A school dance is usually what Americans do at the end of a special season or holiday where two or more people get together, dress up, and dance together and eat food that they brought. This event is on Saturday at 8:30, and we volunteered to help out, so we're going to split into teams for different tasks.

"Me and Natsu are going to choose a team leader and the leader will choose their own team members to help do one specific thing. The options are, food committee, decoration team, match-making team, and the flyer-group. I have the job instructions here," she held up four pieces of paper, "and goals of what the leader and members do on each team. We will announce the chosen leaders after questions. Any questions?"

I rose my hand. "Doesn't the academy have specific service clubs that do student service?"

"Don't you know?" Asked Natsu, smirking. "We're the only club besides robotics."

"I'm in that club," grinned Levy. "I switch off about every month."

"Also," interuppted Erza. "The academy never done this before, so it wasn't expected. A certain exchange student from New York, America suggested it, and her friends all thought it was a great idea. Any more questions?"

Gray shot up his hand. "Do community collage students get to participate in the dance?"

"Only if they are willing to help out," answered Erza. "And if they pay ten dollars when the highschool student pays only five."

"Any more questions?" Asked Natsu.

Nobody answered.

"Alright! We're going to pick our team leaders, shall we?"

"Gear, Droy," annouced Erza. "You are leader of the food commitee. You can choose your members after the leader choosing and at that time I will give you your instructions and goal."

"Jonah, Reedus!" Natsu yelled. "You are leader of the decoration team. Erza'll give you your paper and you can choose ya' bros after our choosing."

"Strauss, Mirajane," said Erza. "Hope you're excited, Mira-tan, you're going to be on the shipping team," mocked Erza, leering. "You're leader of the match-making team."

Mira leered back. "Good that you picked me, Erza-chan, because my group is going to do things better than whatever the hell you and Natsu are going to do."

I asked Loke next to me, "Why does Erza act that way to Mira-chan? Vice-versa also..."

Loke leaned to my ear and whispered, "They were child-hood rivals, but now they're kind of like frenemies."

 _Oh._

"Loke, Evergreen, Lucy, and Ice-Boxers are handing out flyers," said Natsu.

I looked toward him. "Why did you choose us?"

Natsu smirked. "Apparently we need the most 'attractive' members to attract highschool students to the flyer stand. Erza and Mira set up some fancy get-ups for you guys. But I don't know why Erza voted the perverted Lloyd fan to be in the hots club."

I glared at him. "And who voted me in?"

Natsu laughed. "I did. You can back off and join another team if you want to."

I got up and joined the big crowd, but Loke grabbed my arm. "You going off to another group, Lu-tan?"

"Don't call me that, it makes me uncomfotable even though we're dating. And, yes, I don't want to be taken advantage of. You can stay if you want." Then I was off, passing a graduated woman with golden-blonde hair and pearl glasses walking past me with Gray. I guessed it was "Evergreen."

"Lu-chan!" Mira called out to me.

I pushed through the thirty people in the club, walking all over the place, looking for groups, and finally made it to Mira.

"Do you want to be in the match-making team?" Mira asked.

"Um... I'm not very good with that stuff, but I guess it's better than being in the 'hots club.'"

"Huh?" Asked Kinana.

"Natsu wants the most pretty people to be at the flyer stand so that they can attract more students. I don't really like it, so I backed out."

"That's pretty shallow," commented Levy.

"Anyway, let's go outside and gather unused tables," suggested Mira, reading the paper. "It says we need to set up a stand out of a desk and put up a sign. Erza got the principal to agree with it, so we're good about rules."

I looked around at the team while we were finally out of the mock-court room. I guess all their names.

I think it was a graduated woman named Lucky... or Lukie.. Laki? Anyway, there was also Kinana, Juvia, Wendy, Levy, Lisanna, Cana, and of course Mira and me.

"It's all girls," I mumbled.

 **.**

"Alright!" Said Levy, proudly. "We got our desk and flyers set up, and we all have our place to put the desk tomorrow."

We stood in silence for about thirty short seconds. Finally, Cana asked, "So... should you tell us what we're suppost to do tomorrow and Friday, Mira?"

Mira looked at her instructions on her piece of paper. "Tomorrow and Friday, we set this desk up in the gymnasium, where students are going to look for help on the dance, buy tickets, and of course, ask us for someone to be partners with them. How we do that is that we wait for guys to sign up and we ask for their 'types.'"

She looked up from the paper. "This is kind of shallow... but whatever..."

She continued, "We sort those types out in piles by writing their names down and putting their names in a closest 'type-pile' and when a girl comes buy, we ask for their favorite types, and we get the guy who has the same type."

I rose my hand. "What if the guy doesn't like the girl?"

Mira grinned evily. "We can tell them to complain to Erza or Natsu."

"I like that plan," said Cana.

I shrugged it off.

 **~|: Thursday : Mongolia Academy :|~**

We finished up setting up the desk, and I studied it.

It was a large wooden desk, with a table cloth with hearts all over it. On the table cloth, their were strips of paper taped to it, labeled, _Type: Intelligent, Type: Handsome, Type: Intriguing, Type: Jubilant, Type: Civilized, esc._

Cana read the labels, then turned to Levy. "How do you think _Mira_ would know what most these words mean?"

"Levy printed the labels?" I asked.

"Yeah," she smiled, then turned back to Cana. "Aww, come on, Mira-chan is a genius to all thinks romance, so I thought it was no harm done if I put up a stronger vocabulary for her."

Mira finished setting up the banner she hung up across the desk, and skipped over to us.

"Heeey~~," she sang. "What're talking about?"

"Mira-chan," I said. "Read these words. Do know what these mean?"

Mira put her fingers to her chin. "Yeah! Intelligent means smart, handsome means dreamy beyond your wildest dreams... *cough* Intriguing can mean interesting, jubilant means positive and perky, and civilized is classy and proper!"

Cana grinned. "Awright! We're all good!"

"I got on the stupidest team ever," I said, and facepalmed. Levy joined me.

After gathering the rest of the group, we split up to scower the academy for single people who needed help for the dance, and Mira, Laki, and Lisanna stayed at the desk.

A small girl, probably a freshman or a sophomore in highschool, walked up and asked, "Um... I heard that you were giving out romantic advice for the dance... a-and I was wondering if you can help me. I-I mean! I'm a love expert.. but not for myself..."

The girl was petite, bright pink hair in short pigtails, and wearing her normal highschool uniform.

I smiled at the girl. "Sure. What's your name and problem?"

"I'm Cherria! Before telling you my problem, what's your name?"

"My name is Heart-" I stopped, and a pang of pain stabbed me. I decided just to tell my first name. "My name is Lucy... You can just call me whatever you want."

"M'kay, Lu-chan!" She pointed to the steps leading to the second floor. "We can sit there."

We sat down, and Cherria started talking. "My mom is going to be here, so I'm going to make this quick," she took a deep breath, and said quickly, "I like this guy who goes to another school, but it's a university and he's older, but he has a crush on a girl who goes to this collage in the academy, and I feel really bad for crushing on a guy about five years older than me... But I feel such a connection, it has to be love! Anyway, I know he'll never except my feelings, and I just don't know what to do!"

She threw her arms up in frustration.

My eyes were wide. "Wow... You got quite the problem.."

"I know right!" Cherria exclaimed, and students who were leaving stared. "But I know it's love! Even my cousin said so, and she knows!" She moved eye-to-eye to me. "She's married..."

I pushed her away. "Good for her... Anyway... I think I got this covered."

 **~|: Margaret Town : Lamia University :|~**

"Are you sure it's here?" I asked, walking with Sherria in the parking lot.

Sherria grinned. "Yeah! Me and him used to go to the same highschool until he graduated, and I moved away, so I know him well."

I rubbed my head from a headache. "I'm wasting valuble time..."

 _Punishment for being an introvert and being outside of bedroom for more than six hours,_ my mind rang as my headache pounded on.

A tall man with white spiked hair exited the collage and saw us standing at the enterance.

His eyes widened. "Sher-

"LYON-KUN!" Sherria squealed and threw her arms around the older guy.

Lyon's eyes became wider. "What the hell are you doing here, pip-squeak?"

Sherria let go and stared at him with large, sparkly eyes. "I wanted to see you... a-and say something..."

Her face turned bright red, and she turned to me. "Lucy... say it for me."

I pointed at myself. "Sherria, this girl can only be here, and not confess for her customer."

Sherria's face fell.

Lyon got his wide eyes back. "Confess?"

Sherria ran and hid behind me.

I sighed. "Lyon, was it? I guess I have no choice."

I pulled Sherria from behind me. "Lyon!" I cried. "This little squirt is in love with you."

Sherria shut her eyes and yelled shamelessly, "What she said! Love! I'm in love with you! Go to my highschool dance with me!"

Lyon's face basically spelled out, _huh?_ He shook his head and said, "Sherria, I'm sorry. I'm older... A lot older... and I don't know if I can go to your... festible?"

"Dance," she broke in.

"Yeah... so..." Lyon rubbed is head in awkwardness.

Sherria's eyes got misty, and I broke in.

"Lyon, look at this girl," I said, placing my hands on Sherria's shoulders behind her. "This girl built up so much courage to come and talk to you, and ask you to her event, and you just step on her and dump her like an innnocent insect that just so happened to be around you."

Lyon rose an eyebrow.

"Sherria is in love with you, and if it wasn't meant to be, than nature wouldn't allow her to fall in love with you. My friend has an aunt and uncle who are literally fifteen years apart, and you guys..." I looked between them. "Ages be anonymous... Isn't that big of a difference comapred to a _married couple?_ If you still feel uncomfortable, you can just go as 'friends', but you can't disrespect this incredibly brave girl who came just for you."

I walked in front of Sherria and pointed directly at Lyon. " _You._ "

Lyon pushed me away, and rubbed the back of his head once more. "Umm... If you put it like that it's hard to decline."

I grinned. "Exactly!"

Sherria blushed. "So... will you go to the dance with me?"

Lyon smiled. "Sure, pipsqueak."

Sherria ran and hugged Lyon, than ran and hugged me. She said with her face in my clothing, muffled, "Thank you, Lu-chan!"

Than she ran back to hug Lyon.

"Well," I clasped my hands behind my back. "That just wasted the time I could of been working, and probably Sherria's mom is really pissed off right now for waiting at the academy."

Sherria looked up from Lyon's chest. "Oh shit..."

 **~Hope this was funny enough for you! I wanted to make this chapter comedy relief, and I wanted to move the story along from where we are now. *Evil Laugh* You don't know what's gonna happen. Sorry this was a late post, about a week late, but I was caught up in my own personal biz (slacking off) YAY! SUCH A GREAT AUTHOR! Anyway, probably you guys are a little confused over the 7 year leap and stuff, so I decided to make the character's ages on my command :] It's my fan fiction... don't judge... so I made Lyon his original 19 year old self, and I made Sherria leap seven years to her... actually original 15 year old self.. Anyway, I hope I did it proporly xD HannahPlusAnime ouuut!~**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Note: Please Read**_

 **~Hey Guys! So as you know, I've been falling _really_ behind on my writing after Winter Break, and if you may be asking, _Hannah, but you weren't falling before Break,_ that's because my mom put up for me a schedule. Yes, even homeschoolers have schedules, and yes, I am a homeschooler. I gotta update my profile... I will be posting with about three weeks inbetween posts. Anyway, I know the story's been kind of confusing, so after I write the whole thing, I'm going to rewrite it and make it less confusing, get rid of the author's notes, and name the chapters (and of course stop switching inbetween 24hour time and 12hour time ._.) M'kay, enough with that so, Enjoiiii!~**

 **~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

 **~|: Saturday : Day of Dance :|~**

"Brother Natsu," Zeref knocked on my door.

I was typing plans down for the dance on my laptop with me underneath my covers of my bed.

"Yeah, Zeref?" I asked, not taking off the covers over my head.

"Time for school. It is currently 7:05. I made some breakfast if you want to eat."

"WHAT?!" I yelled, than looked at the time on my laptop. "He's not lying..."

 _I've been up all night?_ _Oh right!_

Last night I was pulling a _One Piece_ marathon, then the dreaded feeling of responsibility punched me in the face, and I had to make plans, but I didn't know I stayed up all night doing crap and club activities.

I put on my collage uniform, and went down to breakfast.

Zeref smiled. "I'm glad to see you're not begging to get back into bed."

"That's odd," I mumbled, than sat down to eat my oatmeal Zeref made. "I'm diggin' in!" I stuffed the food in my face.

"So, Brother, what do you have planned for your group today?" Zeref asked.

"Umm..." I said through my oatmeal. "I'vesh got plawning fthor the dawnsh..." **(I've got planning for the dance)**

"And what are your friends doing?"

I gulped down my food. "Umm... Mira's group has match-making... There's Droy working on food, and Reedus on decorations. Loke, Evergreen, and Ice Bastard are working on flyers. I origanally had Lucy on the flyer team, but she decided to go on the match-making team, but the matchmaking job's done, so she got a choice to go on another team. I'm pretty sure she won't go on the flyer team, though."

"Why?" Zeref asked.

"Uhh..." I said, nervously. "She didn't want to be taken advantage of."

"Taken advantage of what?"

I hesitated.

"Umm... her personality? We need to have likable people to attract students," I said, blushing a little.

Zeref leaned toward me. "But I saw Heartfilia-san about a week ago and she seemed a little cold. You look like your lying."

Zeref's scary red eyes bore into me. _Shiiiit... think of something! Uhh..._

Zeref seems really nice at times, gentle and harmless, but things like taking advantage of people because they look good doesn't please him. He could really punish me. I've been wondering about that a lot, and I always wondered why.

"Zeref," I said, not thinking. "It's my club and it's not really nice to pry into people's own responsibility."

Zeref glared harder. "I'm your brother and I want to know what's going on in your social life. Are you doing anything horrible?"

"FINE!" I yelled, giving up. "Just stop staring at me like that! It's making me scared!" I took a deep breath. "The flyer team has to be attractive look-wise because the world is so shallow we need pretty people to get people to like us."

Zeref glared. "I see."

That was apparently it. So, because of the simple response and to defend myself against the glaring deliquent, I dumped the rest of the oatmeal in my mouth and ran out the door to the academy.

 **.**

 **~|: Mongolia Academy :|~**

 **.**

I arrived at the academy to see a highschool junior at the doors, talking with many people including collage students and highschoolers.

I joined the crowd, saying, "What's going on?"

I looked at the girl at the doors, holding back people. She looked foreign, without the proper uniform, and light blonde hair in a braid.

The girl looked at me. "Oh, hello, Senpai." She bowed.

I stared at her. _What's with this girl's fomality?_

"My name is Emma, from America. If you can speak English, please do. There is no class today from the dance, for everyone wants to get ready for the dance," she explained.

I tilted my head. "Well, that's stupid. I've studied enough yesterday and did my homework. Anyway, I have to get in. I'm in the club that is helping setting up."

The girl looked with confused eyes, but cleared way to the door and let me in.

When I into C-2, half the club was there, and about only university students and adults were there. Few belonged to the academy, and graduated, but still in the club.

I looked around and counted. 15 people.

"Erza," I said, tramping up to the red-head studying a piece of paper like usual. "Why didn't you tell everyone that the school didn't have any classes today?"

Erza looked up to me with her, _seriously?_ look written all over her face. "I didn't know, Natsu. Emma-san told me that we didn't have any classes."

I quickly pulled out my phone and tapped the app, _Skype,_ and messaged in the club chat,

 _Everyone, we do not have classes today, but we do have work to do. If you get to the academy and see an American girl, then tell her you're in the decoration comittee. Please come, we still have a lot of work to do, and the dance is tonight at 20:00 or something..._

Erza: _20:30. And if you please, you can go home at around 16:00 to get ready, and finish part-time shifts. Please come, it is of responsibility._

I put my phone away, and just then, Wendy came in, pulling her backpack behind her. "Awww, shucks. I've been looking forward to class today, because in Science we were going to go to the forest. I guess I have to wait until Monday."

"You guys get to go to a forest?" I gaped. "Well... I'm not studying science, but all we do is sit in an over-sized room, with a whole bunch of twenty year-olds, listening to an old guy with a mustache yapping on about how spoiled we are to be 'so caught up with our stupid activites and not to go to a proper univers'-"

"Natsu," interuppted Erza. "That's not the issue. The issue is that not everyone is here, so we need to work with about half the club for the preparations."

"The match-making club is all done. My best-friend Sherria-chan says that Lucy-san did really well with her and Lyon, and are looking for-"

" _Lyon?!"_ Yelled Gray from the other side of the _giant_ room. "Why the hell was Lucy involved with Lyon?!"

"Huh? I said 'her and Lyon as in-'"

"Her and Lyon? Lucy and _Lyon_? Why is Lucy with Lyon?" Demanded Gray.

"The real question is, _how the hell can you hear us from all the way over there, Boxer Pervert?!_ " I shot at him

"Shut up, Shortie!" Gray snapped. "Lemme hear Wendy's answer!"

"I bet you're a pro at stalkery if you have theh hearing range of _that!_ What do you do during the day?" I ignored whatever Wendy was going to say.

"THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE!" Gray yelled.

"SILENCE, FOOLS!" Yelled Erza inbetween me and Gray.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Virgo's Apartment :|~**

I heard a buzz from my phone, and I put down my maskara wand to look at my messages. It was from Natsu.

I read it, and I exhaled. _The dance... Right... I'm probably just going to help out with the preporations and leave afterwards. I have a shift anyway._

I left the bathroom and got on the bus to the way to the academy.

I got to C-2, and heard everyone clattering inside. Finally, I heard a strong and powerful voice, yelling, "SILENCE, FOOLS!"

Knowing it was Erza, I entered. Half the club was there, and Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy were squabbling together.

Me and Lisanna ran to split them apart.

"Calm down!" I took hold of Natsu's arm and pulled him out of the squabbling group.

Natsu yanked my grip off of him, and went back to arguing with Gray.

"Settle down!" Yelled Lisanna. "You are causing disturbance to everyone in the room!"

It was true, indeed, for the adults including Mr. and Mrs. Connell, Laki, and one man who was smoking, who's name I forgot.

Gray and Natsu stopped bickering, and I took Natsu's arm and pulled him away, and Erza pulled Gray away.

"Stop fighting with Gray!" I yelled at Natsu once we were at the other side of the room.

"He started it! And what are you doing with Lyon? That's what Ice Bastard wants to know!" Said Natsu, glaring at me.

I stared, than burst out with laughter. "G-Gray thinks I'm d-doing something with Lyon? I just set Sherria up with him."

"Sherria?" Natsu asked, confused.

"Yeah," I placed my hand in the air to a head shorter than me. "About this tall, has pink pigtails and is a highschool sophomore."

Wendy walked over. "Are you talking about Sherria-chan?"

"Yeah," I answered.

Just then, a large group of club members entered the room

"Where _were_ you guys?" Natsu demanded.

"Sorry!" Levy apologized. "We were hanging out in the gym setting up. When we got your message, we noticed that we forgot to tell you guys..."

I looked around, and all the team leaders were gathered in the group, along with the other team members including the decoration team, the match-making team, and the food team.

"Where you _all_ decorating?" Asked Erza.

"Yeah," answered Droy. "My team finished setting up the food and the match-making team is already done with their work, so we gathered everyone who was at the enterance waiting for us."

"It was my idea to wait for everyone else," Levy raised her hand. "You guys just took too long."

"Okay," Erza said. "Let's get all set up! Let's get the highschoolers a dance they deserve!"

 **.**

When we were all finished with the preperations, some of us went back to C-2 to wait for buses, rides, and multiple students left already. Who was left was the Strauss', Kinana, Levy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and me and Loke.

My phone suddenly vibrated, and I looked on it.

 _Lu-chan, we don't need your help today. The cafe is really unpopulated and we heard that your academy is having a big event, and you guys are hosting it. I hope you have fun hosting it!_

 _\- Jenny Realight, Sent 14:36_

"Mira-chan," said Levy when we sat down at one table. "Don't you have a car?"

Mira blushed. "Yeah, but it broke down and we had to ask my university friend to pick us up."

"How did you get in?" I asked Mira.

"My friend dropped us off two. He offered to pick us up. He'll be here soon."

"Natsu," Lisanna said suddenly. "Can you come with me for a second?"

Natsu looked up from his phone and said, "What are you going to do with me?..."

"Just come on," said Lisanna, pulling him by the arm to the other side of the room.

"Right!" Loke exclaimed suddenly. "Lucy, I need _you_ to come with me."

"Oh!" Mira said, her face lighting up. "I see..."

"Huh?" I said.

Loke didn't let me get an answer. He pulled me from my comfortable place on the bench to the opposite side of Lisanna and Natsu.

"Wanna go to the dance? I bought two tickets for 20 bucks. It's really cheap and sounds fun," Loke did his really unnaturally white smile.

"Umm..." I rechecked my message on my phone from Jenny. "Uh... I guess it's better to go to than staying at Virgo's apartment, and my boss is giving me the day off... so..."

"Is that a yes? You sound unexcited," asked Loke.

"Yeah, it's a yes. I just never really been to a dance before, so I don't know how it is."

Loke chuckled. "None of us in this club have been to a dance before. I hope it's fun."

"Do you know what you wear to a dance?"

"Umm... I think a dress... or a _yukata..._ you can look it up."

"Yeah," I said.

We headed back to the table, and I saw that Lisanna and Natsu headed back as well.

Lisanna was smiling and had a red face, and Natsu was pondering about something.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Two Minutes Earlier |~**

Lisanna pulled me into a corner.

"Natsu, can we get back together?" Lisanna asked.

I stared at her. "What?"

"Can we get back together?" She repeated, more red than the first time.

"Umm... why?"

"Well..." she said, looking down. "About a week ago I got a message from Hibiki-san, and it said that you looked up Lucy's contact information, and he said that you might be cheating on me, and he thought you'd be a better match with Lucy, so to make you happy and avalible, I broke up with you."

"What? That's the reason?" I asked, only half-suprised.

"Well... yeah. But, now that Lucy has Loke, I want to ask you again, 'Can we get back together?'" She finished, looking up at me.

"Umm... Are you thinking about going to the dance?" I asked.

"I wasn't specifically thinking about the dance, but if you can go with me, that'll be great," she smiled up at me.

 _I don't have tickets..._

"Okay... I'll see if I can get tickets," I smiled, hoping she won't show a negitive reaction to me being basically broke.

 _Awww, it's fine! I'm brothers with a super rich celebrity! The only problem is that he's probably too busy to give you money. You can steal some, but probably the tickets are sold out. Eh, you and Lisanna are anime fans, if you can't get tickets you can just watch anime. Perfect date._

Lisanna pulled me back to the table and grinned at everyone, a bit pink, but I was too busy thinking of what I should do about the dance that I didn't notice everyone's suspicious stares.

 **.**

I ran into my house, and I ignored Zeref calling after me when I ran down the large hall to my room.

"Shit! I'm late... I'm late..." I mumbled while I searched through my closet for something to wear. I was going to pick Lisanna up in ten minutes, and I didn't plan anything to wear.

I decided to wear my blazer meant for one of Zeref's conferences in a giant office building that _demanded_ nice clothing. I combed my pink hair as best as I could. I finally finished and ran off into my car.

"To think I'd be more prepared..."

I went to Cultural Festivals before with Lisanna, that was simple, but I never thought I'd be going to something as weird as a dance.

I finally got to the Strauss' house, and I found Lisanna, Elfman, and Mira on their yard, snapping pictures and selfies at them wearing their fancy get-ups.

Mira was wearing a long yellow dress with her usual hair style of her bangs pinned up, and with elegant gloves. Elfman tried to look his best in a suit, but failed horribly because of his big and buff build. Lisanna was wearing a blue party dress with knee socks and arm bracelets.

"Yo!" I called out to them.

They all smiled and came running to my car.

"I thought I was just taking Lisanna," I said.

Mira giggled. "You are. We're just giving her to you right now."

"Great," I smiled. I got out of the car when Lisanna got in, saying, "Lis, I gotta ask your sister something."

Lisanna glanced at me. "Okay."

I walked over to Mira and whispered to her, "Do you have extra tickets...?"

Mira laughed and whispered back, "I knew you'd be unprepared."

She handed me two tickets and I bowed gratefully.

Lisanna asked, "You okay?"

I nodded, than drove off to the academy.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Virgo's Apartment :|~**

I've looked it up, I've bought it, and I made it work. The dress. A dress. A dress I have to wear to the dance. I've looked it up about three hours ago and I now know what you're suppost to wear to a American dance. I've bought one at the nearest clothes store, and I had to buy the cheapest one for expenses from my work.

A emerald green simple short dress and I just wore boots with my "party dress." I put on usual makeup and put my hair into a side pony-tail. I haven't done that for a while, not ever since I graduated from highschool. I shrugged my shoulders and I read more on a article about an American Dance.

Finally, at 20:00, Loke arrived to pick me up. I got up and smoothed out my dress, and opened the door.

Loke wasn't very different than usual. A suit with a red tie, and his sunglasses. His suit didn't have much difference between his uniform.

He grinned at me. "Shall we go, m'lady?"

I gave a small smiled. "Yeah. Lemme grab my coat."

I grabbed my jacket and took Loke's arm.

"You look very lovely tonight, Lucy," Loke flirted.

"Thank you," I said. It came out dryer than I thought.

With that response, Loke remained silent.

Loke apparently rented a fancy-looking car for the two of us to ride in. We drove off in silence, for I didn't have much to say.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Mongolia Academy |~  
**

We finally got to the academy, which seemed like forever staying in silence with Lisanna.

Lately, ever since this afternoon, I've been thinking that Lisanna really was sudden with us breaking up a week ago, and asking to go to a dance that was so soon.

Is it bad that I probably feel different about her now? I mean, I watched a lot of, and don't judge, shoujo anime, and the characters explained that they felt like they had a "spark" when they were in love with someone. Hanging out with Lisanna's been fun, but I never felt that spark before. I thought that I'd grow to love Lisanna more ever since we made the promise, but I never felt it. Now I felt that the connection's been totally broken.

I decided to shrug it off. Maybe something'll happen during the dance.

After these thoughts, Lisanna took my arm. I felt a little awkward, but I let it be.

 _Nothing yet._

We entered, and I was immediately awe-struck. The room was full of colorful lights and a giant disco-ball was hanging from the ceiling. I've seen it in the gymnasium while we were setting up food, but it's amazing how much it can improve when the main lights are off.

The floor had scattered loose streamers on it, and tables full of food, couples sitting at tables, talking and laughing. Some people were up and dancing to the music.

"LiSA's playing," Lisanna stated.

I remembered that Lisanna didn't particularlly like LiSA, but because her singing style was "off" to her, and her voice was high. I liked LiSA. Her band members were really good and had a really catchy tune of music.

"Hey guys," said Levy, standing next to a big and buff guy with piercings. I remembered that his name was Gajeel, becuase he always seemed to glare at me and tease me.

"Hi, Levy," said Lisanna, enthusiastically. "Is this you're date?" She asked, looking at Gajeel.

Levy turned pink. "No, no. He's just following me around for some reason."

Gajeel glared at her. "Shrimp, I told you I'm messing with your boyfriends over there."

"Oh, right," said Levy. "Jet and Droy don't like him," she pointed up to Gajeel. "Gajeel's just trying to piss 'em off by hanging around me."

I saw from the corner of my eye a pop of orange appeared. At first I thought it was Jet, spying on Gajeel and Levy, but it was actually Loke along with Lucy, who was linked to Loke.

Lisanna waved them over.

Lucy looked displeased and a little scared. She looked good in her green dress, so that clouded her expression. Loke was smirking at all the girls passing him, with male partner or alone. He looked pretty much normal.

"Lu-chan!" Called Levy.

I noticed that Lucy's hair was totally different, half of it in a side-ponytail. I also noticed that Levy, Loke, Lisanna, and Lucy ***** were in a conversation. **Lots of L's***

"It's a little scary..." Lucy said as she looked down.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not really thinking.

Lisanna, next to me, saved me from embarrassment. "We're talking about how the dance is so far."

"Oh! Sorry, I couldn't really hear you, the music is playing too loud," I rubbed the back of my head.

"I know," agreed Lisanna.

"Anyway," said Loke, then looking away to wink at a girl, then looking back again. "I think the dance is great so far. The club members did really good with the decorations. Plus, lots of friendly-looking people are attending," he added, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go sit at a table," said Lucy, a little annoyed at Loke's behavior.

"Oh, Erza-senpai and Wendy-chan has a table ready near the DJ set. They're in charge of music," explained Levy. "Let's go join 'em."

We followed Levy, who was currently tugging the giant Gajeel along.

"Hi!" Wendy appeared. "I saw you guys coming over. The table's over there, so I guess we can talk. C'mon."

Wendy had her long blue hair in pigtails with cork-screw curls, and a pink dress hanging from a sturdy blue-studed necklace and matching blue ankle-boots.

"Awww, Wendy-chan, you look so cute!" Lucy cooed.

"Thank you, Lucy-san. My step-mom helped me out with my hair. Anyway, the table's this way."

She grabbed Lucy and Loke's hands and guided them to the table next to the DJ set. Erza was currently working with the set, but nothing much was needed, for she only had music playing from her phone that was plugged into the set.

"Hello, everyone," Erza smiled. "You're just in time. We're going to have the 'slow dance' pretty soon. In case you don't know, a slow dance is what a pair participates in, how they do it is that they get on the dance floor and dance really slowly and romantically."

"What if a pair doesn't want to dance?" Lucy asked, giving a small glance 'towards Loke.

"I don't know. I think it's better if you participate," Wendy answered.

Lucy looked down uncomfortably.

"Do you not want to dance?" Loke asked.

Lucy sighed. "I can. I'm just kind of... tired. Did you know Virgo cleans in the middle of the night? _Wearing her french maid uniform. That_ keeps me up."

I held in a laugh.

"Anyway, we're starting," Erza broke in.

Wendy took Erza's smartphone, tapped the screen and stopped the music, and spoke into the speaker.

 _"Hello everyone! I hope you're having a great time! Right now we're having a slow dance, so if all the pairs can come to the dance floor and dance to the wonderful music Erza-senpai picked out for us. Thank you so much!"_

I held out my hand to Lisanna, and she took it gratefully.

We danced to the romantic music, but for some reason, I didn't want to keep eye contact with Lisanna. It just felt... _alien_.

 **.**

The party dragged on, but I couldn't feel it at all. I felt like I was in a void with nothing going on. I could hear the music and see the lights, but my mind was somewhere else. It wasn't when I get bored and start thinking about awesome action scenes from shounen, but I felt distracted.

 _What is it?_ I asked myself over and over. It got worse whenever Lisanna held my hand, or when she touched me.

"Guys, I'm going to the bathroom. Lucy, do you need to as well? It's better to go together than alone," said Lisanna, breaking my thoughts apart.

"Sure," said Lucy, but rather dryly.

Once the girls were gone I asked Loke, sitting next to me at the table, "Loke, I think I'm getting sick or something. I feel like my mind is somewhere else, and not like usual, like when I'm re-watching anime in my mind. It also gets strangely worse when Lisanna touches me."

Loke glanced at me. "I felt that a lot before. Probably because I'm hanging around a lot of the wrong girls."

"Huh?"

Loke chuckled. "You've only had one girlfriend in your life, so I wouldn't expect you'd know. You feel like that when you're emotions know you're in the wrong relationship."

"What?"

"You're bored and you're distracted from Lisanna. Why you're bored and feeling like you are, your brain is telling you to give up. It's like a warning sign."

I stared at him. "So... I'm hanging with the wrong girl?"

"Yeah. At least you're not feeling it anymore."

"How do you know all this?" I asked in wonder.

Loke gave an annoyed sigh. "I've told you, I've been with lots of women in my life. My brain is telling me none of them are perfect for me. I ignore it a lot, though."

"O...kay.." I answered.

I glanced at the clock, and it was almost 24:00.

Suddenly, the music went off and Erza's voice rang out in the gymnasium.

 _"Hello, everyone. I hope you're having a great time with your friends, but as some of you know, the dance is going to end in fifteen minutes. I hope you're having a good time, and I wish you well when you leave."_

A thought suddenly struck my head after Erza made the announcement. _I could just break up with Lisanna right after she comes back. That way, I still will have time to ask Mira if she could drive Lisanna home, and not be awkward for the rest of the night._

I felt really guilty for the thought, but I knew it would work and I would start feeling better. Sure, I'd be girlfriendless, but that'd just give me a chance to get someone better.

I waited at the table for the girls to come back. Finally, Lucy and Lisanna appeared at the table.

"Hi, guys!" Lisanna said enthusiastically.

Lucy gave a small raise of her hand in a dry greeting.

"Hey, Lisanna. Lucy-tan," Loke linked his arm with Lucy. Lucy showed no reaction.

"Hi, Lisanna," I smiled awkwardly.

"Did you guys here about the announcement in the bathroom?" Asked Wendy.

"No. I don't think they have a speaker in there," replied Lisanna.

"Oh, okay," said Wendy. "The party's going to end in about ten minutes. You guys can finish up. We already have volunteers from the club to help clean up."

"I'm one of them," I said.

"Okay," smiled Lisanna. "I can wait for Natsu. I can probably help out."

"That's great..." I mumbled.

Loke threw me a glance.

I cleared my throat. "Hey, um, Lisanna? Can I talk to you for a second? Outside?"

"Huh?" Asked Lisanna, nervously.

Lucy looked between Lisanna and me.

She mouthed, _Ohhh..._

I held out my hand to Lisanna. Lisanna took it and I lead her through the crowd of people gathering their stuff. We finally reached the exit.

I sat her down on a bench and I decided to stay standing.

"Um... So Lisanna..." I started.

"Yeah?" She looked up at me with shiny eyes.

"We've been together for a really long time now..."

Lisanna's face turned a little pink. "And?"

"Loke told me..."

"Told you what?"

"That... you're..."

Lisanna stared, looking really hopeful.

"Not... for me," I got out.

Lisanna's face fell. "O-Oh..."

"You... look like you were expecting something different."

Lisanna's face turned red. "Oh... no! I mean..."

"What?"

"Um... I'm sitting down... You're standing... Romantic and rare event..."

I rose an eyebrow.

"Marrigable age..." Lisanna mumbled.

"Oh!" I slapped the back of my head. "Well... quite the opposite..."

"Yeah..."

We stood in silence for a little.

"Why?" Lisanna broke the silence.

I stared at the ground. "Well... lately, I haven't been feeling it as much as usual. Ever since you broke up with me, I felt easier. When you asked me back, I felt a weight back on my shoulders again."

Lisanna's face fell again.

I held out my hands in front of myself. "No... no I don't think you're difficult to be with... That's what your face says... but... When you break up with someone, you seperate because you know there is a reason not to be together..."

"Oh. But the reason was I thought you liked Lucy instead."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Yeah... Probably not, but if you're not feeling us anymore... than I guess that's it," said Lisanna, sadly.

Lisanna got up and did an unexpected thing. She kissed me on the lips. It was brief and short, and she quickly pulled away. She sighed. "I guess... it's really not to be..."

Lisanna ran off into the academy.

Immediately, I knew I did the right thing. Lisanna kissed me for a reason, and I didn't feel my heart skip a beat, or no special spark or nothing else in the kiss. I guess that's why she did it.

I felt a big weight off my shoulders, but a small dark spot on my heart that felt... empty for some reason.

 **~So whad'ya guys think? Please leave a review to express your opinions. Honestly, I feel a little bad for Lisanna :l Did I have too much Natsu POV? Heheh... well this chapter was mostly about the getting back together, then Natsu learning his true feelings, then breaking up again c: I hope you guys enjoyed, and, again, I'm so sorry for the really late post. But, this is going to go on a lot .-. New chapter (Maybe) in three weeks!~**


	9. Chapter 9

**~|: One Week Later | Sunday :|~**

 **~| Lucy's POV : Loke's Residence |~**

I woke up in a daze.

"Where... am I?" I whispered, while I gazed around the unknown room I was sleeping in.

"Oh... right." I just remembered that after the dance a week ago, Loke asked me if Virgo's place was unsuitable for me, so he asked me if I could stay at his place before I get some type of career and my own place.

I still hadn't gotten used to Loke's though, for the first day I woke up screaming. I don't know why, but the whole move seemed like a huge shock to me. Maybe I wasn't used to changing sleeping environments, since my dad was so busy that he didn't take me anywhere.

I looked at my phone. _8:42._ I could've slept more, but I decided to head down to see what Loke's doing. From experience of living with him, Loke was always an early riser and waken me up fifteen minutes before my alarm even woke me up.

I gotten dressed into my usual hoodie and skirt and headed down stairs.

I studied Loke's house again when I headed down to the first floor. It was a reasonably good-sized house, probably meant for a family of four or five, but Loke lived alone, with having the job of a glasses model...? Anyway, he never told me about his parents or relatives, so that left me in a mystery, because I know that family members can be a sensitive topic.

"Loke," I said, popping in the kitchen.

Loke was making breakfast while watching the morning news on the living room next to the kitchen.

"Hey, Lucy. Do you want eggs?" He smiled at me with an unnatural white smile.

I nodded and sat down at the table.

The reports on the news shown that the owner of the Heartfilia mansion has just officially been accepted to Sting Eucliffe and assistance was passed on to his younger twin brother, Rouge.

"They finally accepted the fact that a teenager runs the Konzern," I stated, unemotionally.

Loke grimanced. "Why did you sign it away?"

I hesitated. "T-They didn't let me."

Loke plated the eggs and bacon in silence.

Finally, he said, "It sounds a lot more like that, coming from you."

I frowned. "The truth is... They really did not let me keep it... but I really didn't want to keep it. I didn't want to hold the responsibility, and with my collage classes on top of that, the chances for a future. I want to keep the chances of a career that people won't gawk at."

Loke smiled and brought the plate of breakfast in front of me, and put the plates in their places.

"Breakfast."

"Thank you," I said softly.

We ate without a sound, but the only sound was the news dragging on about useless reports about the ever-so-boring town of Mongolia.

Finally, the news annouced something useful:

 _"This is our last report. Mongolia Academy for High Schoolers and Collage Students are hosting a end of school-year festival like every year, located at the main Strawberry Street of Mongolia on July 20th. Games and couple events will many students will attend, and I hope even the adults and children will have a good time. Now for the weather-"_

Loke turned off the TV.

"End of the year?" I asked, counting off my fingers. "It's a little early to be announcing the end of the year event, right?"

"Yeah, right now is May 15th... Probably they're just really excited about it," said Loke.

I looked down, then got up. "I'm going off... to do my own thing."

I was, truly. I was trying to not be specific about what I was really doing. I was probably going to go upstairs and text Levy, or something. Watch anime, clean, read _Akagami no Shirayuki-hime_ , my favorite shoujo, do somemthing random.

I reached my room, and picked up my phone, and was very suprised of what I saw. Messages flooded the screen, and they were all from the same person.

 _Lucy! im bored! you dont have work today right?_

 _im so lonely_

 _as you herd i broke up with Lisanna..._

 _im really bored. All my guy friends cant come over..._

 _watch_ ao no exorcist _with_ _me! You like that anime, right?_

 _:( why are you not replying?_

 _do you not like me anymore?_

 _did you not like me in the first place?_

 _are you busy with Loke? Does he need help?_

 _come over... too bored to process..._

 _\- Natsu_

I facepalmed myself too hard that it hurt.

"Natsu, you dumbass," I mumbled, while flopping on my bed.

I pulled up _Messages_ on my phone and texted Levy.

 _Did you give Natsu my number? Why is he texting me so much? Explain._

I pulled up _Manga Rock_ to occupy myself when Levy is replying.

It didn't take long, because Levy, after three minutes replied,

 _I've been waiting for a conversation for a long time from you, and this is how you start it out as? Lol. No, I didn't give Natsu your number, he got it from Skype. I don't know why he's texting you so much. Maybe he hung out with Cana after he broke up with Lisanna-chan._

My eyes widened.

 _Levy-chan, he's a minor._

Levy: _Heeheehee. I know. Anyway, the best thing you can do to a spam_ _message_ _is to message back._

I stared at the message and laid my head on my turned-up hands and cupped my face. I thought of something A few seconds later.

 _Levy-chan, Natsu invited me to watch_ Ao No Exoricst _with him, because he's too bored. Do you want to come with me?_

Levy replied almost immediately,

 _Sure! I love that anime. I'll come over and pick you up at Loke's. I can drive us to Natsu's._

I turned off my phone. I got dressed into something more acceptable. Jeans and a tanktop with a zip hoodie. I unzipped it just for show.

"Loke," I called, traveling downstairs. "Levy's going to pick me up so we can hang out."

Loke called back, "Oh, okay. What are you going to do?"

"We're going to watch _Ao No Exorcist_ with Natsu at his house."

"Oh," muttered Loke. "I hate that show. Go ahead and have fun."

"Sure," I said, then popped a piece of toast in my mouth before Levy texted me.

 _Lu-chan, I'm outside._

"M'kay, see you!" I said, after wolfing down my toast.

Loke just waved his hand from behind the couch.

 **.**

Me and Levy talked the whole way from Loke's to Natsu's. We laughed about stupid stuff just like normal girls. It was weird, but I liked having a friend close to me that I can talk about life problems, instead of hearing fake friends yap the day away about useless, "who's dating this person" and " _draaama_."

What I learned in the car drive, is that Levy doesn't care about love much, and I agreed that it was stupid, but I thought I could give it a chance with Loke.

"Lu-chan," Levy said suddenly. "Do you actully like Loke?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"You... just don't seem in the right position with him. Most couples always act happy and cheerful. You and Loke seem more distant than other couples."

I looked down and stayed silent for a second to think.

I looked back up. "Well... I never knew you had to act like a good couple. I thought a couple could act like however they want to. I've never been in a relationship before, so I don't really know how you're suppost to act."

Levy laughed. "It's not how you act, it's how you feel. I guess I haven't made that clear at all, but do you feel any connection to him?"

A question struck my mind. "Levy, how do you know all of this?"

Levy stopped early at a traffic light. The car behind us honked. Levy turned as pink as her flower on her bandana.

"I've been doing research..." she mumbled.

"Research? Why?" I asked, tipping my head to the side.

Levy frowned. "Lu-chan, I do research on about everything. No suprise I came across 'attraction.'"

"Oh. Okay then."

Levy grinned, forgetting her vauge answer. "Back to the question, do you have a connection with him?"

"...not a big connection."

"How about..." Levy went on. "-wait, we're here."

We arrived at the Dragneel Residence. It was no suprise that it was a large and fancy house, because it was home to the 'god' Zeref, but what was skeptical about it being "innocent-looking," is that it had a large amout of black, and very dark brown and gray.

We knocked on the door, and fifteen seconds later, a pink-haired grinning teenager arived at the door.

"Oi! Lucy, you came! Levy two! Come in, my brother's not here, so that's why I wanted you to hang out today."

Natsu looked a lot different in jeans and a tee-shirt, without his uniform. Last time I vistited, he was still in his uniform.

"Hi, Natsu," Levy cheerfully chimed. "I just wanted to ask, why did you invite Lu-chan over?"

Natsu smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, all my guy friends were out doing other stuff, I hate Perverted Iceburg, and Loke, I don't really like," he glanced at me and said, "Oh, sorry, Lucy."

"No offence," I said without reaction.

Natsu smiled wider. "I was considering hanging out with Erza, but she had work at the office, so I chose our new-comer! I need to got to to know her more, and she likes _Ao No Exorcist_ two, so that's great!"

Levy frowned. "Why didn't you invite me?"

"Gajeel would get really mad at me," he said, bluntly.

Levy blushed. "Why would Ga- _Gajeel_ be mad at you if you hang out with me? I mean, you just got over a breakup, so he shouldn't get angry or suspicious or anything..." She then stared off into space.

Natsu waited for Levy to move on with her sentence, but it took too long. He spread his arms and said, "Well, you're here with Lucy so he shouldn't get mad at all, so let's go watch TV!"

We followed him to his room, which was very close to the entrance. Last time I came, I expected Natsu's room to be on the second floor, but, I was wrong.

 **.**

We finished the first episode of season two, and Natsu threw up his arms and grinned. "Yes! I love the new story line!"

"I'm glad that Shura-san got a new outfit that covered a little more... You know... the wrap-top," Levy said in relief, look down at herself.

"Natsu," I said suddenly. "Why is it that the club's name 'The Offical Fairy Tail _Otaku_ Club?' You guys seem social enough to not be otaku's, so why is it called that?"

Natsu smiled. "Well, Lucy, it's called that because before the club was born, most of the clubmembers you see in the club today were otaku's. I was even one, and I formed the club with Erza, whom I met online. We gathered a lot of classmates who were most of the time locked in their rooms with a computer, and forced to come to school by their parents. The club was formed so otaku's can make friends, and it's still named that because it's open to all anti-social anime fans in the school and out."

Levy smiled. "Yeah. Weren't you one before you joined the club?"

"That's why we black-mailed you into the club," laughed Natsu. "You were so distant with the world, you needed a little push into true friendship that you didn't have until now."

My eyes widened. My respect for the club has just boosted up 60%, and I knew that it was going to keep growing.

Unexpectedly, tears started to form into my eyes. If I hadn't joined the club, nobody would be there to comfort me to get over the death of my dad. I would still be living at my maid's apartment, and I wouldn't have any entertainment from annoying texts and _Skype_ messages from Natsu.

The tears streamed down my face. I remembered that if I hadn't got over the death of my dad, I'd be in depression. I'd be in Virgo's apartment eating cup-noodles all day, doing nothing, or hell, even on the streets if Virgo ever betrayed my trust.

Levy and Natsu looked shocked and uneasy at my unexpected emotions.

"Eh... uh... Lucy... you okay?" Questioned Natsu, uneasily. "Um... Levy! I think she's sad... hug her!"

Levy put on her trademark _seriously?_ face. She came up to me on the bed, and put her arms around me.

"Lu-chan, what's wrong?"

I sobbed into her hair, and whispered, "Y-you guys a-are all so n-nice... If I hadn't been i-in the club, then-n I'd be depressed over m-my f-father's death..."

Natsu came over and stroked my hair in a comforting gesture.

He said in a soft, but positive voice, "Luce, you're right. And without you, life wouldn't be as difficult. We need a subborn person like you to make the club interesting."

"L-Luce?" I asked, looking up at him.

Natsu grinned once again, "Yeah, that's my new nickname for you. Enjoy it. It's rare when I give nicknames."

Somehow, those simple words warmed my heart, and I smiled up at him, and at Levy. Levy let me go and wiped my tears away.

"Thank you. Thank you for blackmailing me," I thanked, and also giggled at the ridiculous reason of gratitude.

"Our pleasure," said Levy, with full laughter in her voice.

Natsu did a wide grin and winked.

 **.**

"Well, that was fun," I said, cheerfully on me and Levy's way back to our homes. "How would you label it, Levy-chan?"

"I'd say it was emotional," said Levy, on the right of me ***** with a blank face.

I sighed positively and looked out the window.

Levy glanced at me. "You seem different than usual."

I looked at her. "How?"

Levy shrugged. "I dunno. You just seem more positive."

"Do I not act like that usually?"

"You don't act like that. Ever," she said, bluntly.

I stayed silent.

"Lu-chan," said Levy. "Have you ever thought about breaking up with Loke?"

"We're back on that?" I complained.

Levy stared at me with suprised eyes, then grinned and pointed at me with one hand. "There! There!-It!-Is!"

"Levy-chan! Watch the road!" I commanded, and Levy looked back on to the road, but continued pointing at me with her left hand *****.

"You see? You're avoiding the subject! You obviously don't feel comfortable talking about your boyfriend around your bestfriend."

I sighed and looked down, staying silent.

"Lu-chan, don't look disappointed in yourself. Stay honest about yourself. How do you really think about him?"

I sighed again. "I guess... more like a protective friend. I mean, I don't like him like.. that much romantically. I probably shouldn't because he hangs out around so many other girls."

"If you shouldn't," beamed Levy. "Why _are you dating him_?"

 _Why are you dating him?_ Those words rang in my head multiple times.

"Levy-chan!" I yelled, smiling from ear to ear. "Why didn't I converse with you like this before!?"

"Huh?" She inquired, pulling up into Loke's driveway.

"I'm really not happy with him! So I just need to call the relationship off!" I said, excitedly. I knew I haven't been this elated in a long time.

"Wait! Lu-chan, what're you talking about?" Levy called out to me as I leaped out of the car and scurried towards Loke's house.

"I'm going to break up with Loke!" I called out to Levy. "I have to do it. Stay here!" I put both my hands out in a gesture of haste to Levy.

"Loke!" I called out to Loke.

 ***Note: Cars in Japan have the driver's seat on the right***

 *****Extra Short Story!*****

 **:Featuring Wendy Marvell, Romeo Conbolt:**

 *****RoWen and the Shocking Anime*****

 **~| Wendy's POV : Mongolia Academy :|~**

I skipped along the hall, avoiding anybody's way, just to be kind, and suddenly, my foster mother's voice called out,

"Wendy-chan," she said with kind eyes, poking her head out the door to the principal's office. "I need to talk to you, Wendy-chan."

I walked in the office, and admired the plesantness of my step-mother's office, but still, fear arose inside of me.

"Mother, have I done something wrong?" I asked, timidly.

"No, no, child," the woman replied. "I just have a suprise for you today.

"Huh?"

She led me into her personal lounge, and there, a boy about my age with purple, spiked hair sat on a chair. I reconized him immediately.

"Romeo-kun," I exclaimed.

"Oh, Marvell-san, hi! I heard that Grandeeny-sensei was your foster mother, and I was really happy about that," he replied with a smile, that made my heart skip a beat.

"So I see that you two have met eachother," said my step-mother. "I just wanted to tell you, Wendy, that there is a boy your age who has recently enrolled here. And since you have only one friend your age, I wanted to introduce him."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, knowing that the hint in my foster mother's eye meant more than a friend. I immediately blushed.

"Mother-sama..." I said, nervously. "Thank you..."

"Well," said my foster-mother, enthusiastically. "I set up a hang-out at my house this afternoon after class," she took hold of my shoulders and shoved me towards Romeo's chair, and forcefully, made my sit on the one next to him.

"Honey, do you have club today?" My mother asked.

"Umm... No, we don't. Natsu-san wanted to stay home and plan for the next event after school."

"Oh, I see. Then that's good!" She grinned. "You two get to class, now. I believe you two are in the same one. Now, according to my calculations, the bell should ring right about-"

The bell rang, but since I was waiting for it, it came a lot louder than expected.

"Right! So you two get to class before the collage students pile into PE."

I glanced at Romeo with fear, than we both ran for our class.

 **~|: Marvel Residence :|~**

"Sorry about my foster-mother," I apologized to Romeo while we were setting up anime in my room.

"No problem. I've seen a lot of embarrassing mothers and fathers come and go at the orphanage," explained Romeo.

"Oh, right! I wanted to ask you something," I said, sitting next to him on my bed. "How did you get into Mongolia Academy?"

"I should of told you sooner," grinned Romeo. "I got adopted by Maoco Conbolt, my new dad. He lives really close to here, which is fortunate, it's really nice here, and I remember that I went on a trip to the zoo with you guys."

"Maoco Conbolt?" I asked. "He's part of OFTOC! He wasn't there on the day we did the club field trip."

"Really?" Romeo exclaimed, eyes full of playful wonder, that I couldn't help but blush at. "Maybe I should join two!"

"That'd be really fun," I said, smiling.

Romeo hid a hint of pink in his cheeks, and looked away.

I recovered from Romeo's idea and broke the silence. "So, I got this new anime. Someone online said I would love it, and it would be suited for someone like me. It's called _Boku no Pico_. It doesn't have a cover on the disk case, but it sounds interesting! I don't really know what's it about, but the person online said it was amazing."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Romeo.

I put the disk in the player, and played the first episode.

 **~|: The Next Day ; Mongolia Academy :|~**

I stared into space, regretting everything I seen last night, regreting why I even was here, why I was even at school, and not going to hypno therapy.

Lucy glanced over her shoulder and looked at me, noticing my disgrace.

"You okay, Wendy?" She asked.

I stared at her. "The suggestion was a prank... a really... unkind prank."

 *****End of Short Story*****


	10. Chapter 10

**~| Lucy's POV : Loke's Residence :|~**

"Loke!" I cried out into the doorway.

Loke's head popped out of the hallway. His sunglasses blocked his emotion, but his mouth was beaming.

"Yes, Lucy?"

I sighed and clenched my fists. I approached him.

"Loke, I need to talk to you," I said, feebly.

"Yap away," he replied, placing his hands inside the pockets of his green jacket.

I inhaled and started, "Loke, you hang out with a lot of girls, you barely pay attention to me... and I really don't feel comfortable around you. I laugh a lot more with my friends than with you. It really warmed my heart when you invited me to your place, because it felt like someone cared for me. Thank you for that."

I looked up at him, and he took off his sunglasses, revealing a confused pair of eyes. He was expecting me to go on.

I inhaled again. "Thank you for a place to stay, but I will be breaking up with you. I feel just the same as I would without a boyfriend, or even worse. I figured out what a 'type' is, and how romantic feelings respond, and you don't make the match. I don't really expect you to feel bad, or depressed, because you have many options, and chances for you."

I bowed. "I ask your permission for me to retrieve my belongings from my borrowed room."

Loke held his hands up. "Wait wait wait... What? You're breaking up with you just because you think it's just not meant to be? That's really cliché. What is the real reason?"

"Because you barely pay attention to me, and I don't feel comfortable, like other couples are supposed to feel," I explained, and looked to the floor. "May I retrieve my things now?"

Loke tapped my chin, a gesture to tell me to look up. I did, and he said, "Yes, but, what are you going to do afterwards?"

I smiled. "I've got Levy in the driveway, and I also have my maid's address to her apartment. Thank you for your hospitality," and I bowed. Before Loke could say anything, I ran up his stairs to gather my things.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

I stared at my right hand, which comforted Lucy in her distress. I thought hard of what happened before Lucy and Levy left.

I recapped it in my head,

We were watching season 2 episode 1 of Ao No Exorcist, and Lucy all the sudden asked why the club was named The Official Fairy Tail Otaku club, and when I explained it, she burst into tears, thanking us.

Adrenaline still filled my eyes even when I imagined her crying, and Levy doing her best to comfort her. I hated girls crying. Even though they do it a lot, it still shattered my own heart, and I feel like I need to hug them. Fortunately, Levy decided to hug her, and I was left stroking her blonde head. I didn't mind.

I lied down on my bed, and a strange feeling lingered in the room. I didn't know if it was just me, or that thing I get whenever I smell something, it switches it to a very familiar memory, and a random memory that felt just like it is when I was planning for the orphanage event with Lucy. It both involved Lucy, so I thought I could use that as a clue.

I got up, and not trusting either my brother or my own instincts, I checked on the internet for the random memories.

I searched "random memories trigger with a certain smell of a person" and immediately, an answer shown large on the screen. I read it.

My face grew pale.

"What?"

 **~| Lucy's POV : McGarden Residence :|~**

I just finished the joyous story of how I broke up with Loke as we drove up into the McGarden driveway.

It was a small and homey house, fit for a small family of three. It was strange that in an expensive town like Mongolia would have a house like this, but it was very refreshing to lay eyes on it.

"It's so cute! Thank you so much for letting me stay, Levy-chan," I exclaimed, hugging Levy around the neck.

Levy pulled away a little so she can breathe better. "No problem, Lu-chan... but you already thanked me before we left."

"I know, but it makes me really happy to see it now!" I chimed.

We walked in, and Levy cried into the small halls, "I'm home! Mom, Dad! Are you home?"

No one answered.

Levy shrugged. "I'll confirm when they come home from work."

"What do your parents do?" I asked, taking in the house with curious eyes.

"They write stories, that's why I'm so into books. They have fantastic taste in literature and write breath-taking novels and stories, but their stories are not so popular, but popular to get a house like this," she answered, dreamily.

"Oh!" Levy exclaimed, snapping out of her wondrous state. "You better not unpack or anything before my parents get home and talk to them. Just to make sure."

"Okay. Just out of curiosity, where would I sleep if they accepted me?" I asked.

Levy grinned. "Just over here. Personally, I think it's the best room."

She led me over not deep into the hall, into a living room-like space, with shelves filled with books, and a futon mattress lying comfortably in the corner on the floor, with a creamy white bedspread and pillow.

"We usually reserve this for guests," she explained.

"It's adorable!" I exclaimed. "I really wish I could stay here."

"I wish you could, too," sighed Levy. "But just in case, you do have a place to stay if my parents don't let you stay… right?"

"Well, I do have Virgo."

"Your maid? She's nice," grinned Levy.

"Yeah."

Just then, we heard a door open, and two bright, optimistic voices chimed, "Levy-chan! We're home!"

Me and Levy rushed to the door, and a young, petite mother with shiny white hair embraced Levy, and her father, an average-sized man with dark blue hair patted Levy on her light blue head.

I stared at the amazing family greet their little girl, and telling them about their days at the studio, until the mother looked over Levy's head and looked at me, standing in their small hallway, staring at them, and me idiotically grinning at their reunion.

"Levy-chan, who's your friend?" Asked Levy's mom.

Levy looked towards me and I waved awkwardly.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Let me introduce you to my friend Lu-chan! Her name is Heartfilia Lucy."

The father came over to me, and I respectfully bowed, but the man chuckled a merry laugh. "You don't have to be so formal! You are my child's first friend she brought over since kindergarten."

Levy flushed. "Dad…"

"What?" Cheerfully exclaimed Mr. McGarden. "It's true, and don't be embarrassed. It just means that you've been working hard on your studies and hobbies."

Mrs. McGarden took my hands and said sweetly, "Honey, I am honored to meet my baby's best friend. You can call me Mrs. McGarden, the author of The Haunted Party Series. I'm sorry we don't have much to do here, my baby only reads books and practices her manga skills."

Levy flushed again. "Wait- Mom…"

"Honey, again, stop being embarrassed!" Laughed her father, clapping her on the back, making her trip forward a bit. "You shouldn't keep your art skills a secret to your friends forever."

"Wait, Mom, Dad, I have to talk to you," said Levy hastily, changing the subject.

Levy led her parents to the kitchen, telling me to stay in the hall.

I enjoyed the beauty of the hall while Levy and her parents were talking.

Five minutes later, Levy exited the kitchen, her head bent down, and her groaning negatively.

"Luuu-chan…" she grumbled, than placed her tiny head on my shoulder, than started to bang it gently against it. It hurt a little. "My parents say that you can't stay… They have barely enough money to pay their editors and book-cover artists, etc. . We are in a lot of debt from our book purchases and my supplies for my…" She stopped, and looked up into my face with a sulky look, "Manga hobby…

"My mom also said you have Virgo… She can take care of you."

"Aww, Levy," I embraced her in a warm hug. "You don't have to be so down. I was looking forward to it, but I can survive with living with Virgo until I get an apartment. I can always see you at school, and you can invite me over, and I can invite you over."

Levy hugged me back. "Okay then… I hope you'll be alright."

"You too," I replied.

 **~| Lucy's POV : A Week and a Day Later : Mongolia Academy:|~**

Things went along swimmingly for the week, for my schedule. Wake up, get ready, take the bus, do classes, go to club, take the bus, do work, go home. More good news is that Natsu let me off of my membership of the club, but I decided to become a full member, mostly because my friends were there, and I had respect for the club, helping out with events, and getting agoraphobic students out of the dumps using trust.

More good news, Wendy and Romeo got hypnotherapy to help what happened about two weeks ago.

What happened was:

Wendy was staring into space the day before I broke up with Loke. I asked her what was wrong, and she explained.

"Boku no Pico?" I exclaimed. "You do know that is hentai right? Hentai as in _adult anime_ … _Very_ adult."

You Wendy and Romeo forgot everything about it, and everything was alright.

 **.**

After club, Natsu ran up to me and tapped me on the shoulder.

"Luce, you're going to work, right? I have nothing to do at home, so I can drop you off. You usually take the bus, right?"

I nodded yes.

"Great! I can take you. Are you okay with that?"

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks Natsu."

 **.**

We got into his car, which was surprisingly clean. It was a black mini van with red seats inside.

"So, where do you work?" Natsu asked when we were on the road.

"Lates' Latte Coffee Café," I replied.

"Huh.. Late's… Is that a name? It sounds familiar."

"Yeah. Hibiki-san told me he knows you. Lates, Hibiki. He works there with his fiancé, Realight, Jenny."

"Jenny?" He questioned rather loudly. "He's engaged to her? I thought they were just dating…"

"Yeah, they're engaged. I don't know when the wedding is, though."

"Okay. He could of told me, though," Natsu scoffed, immaturely. "Anyway, what's the address?"

I gave him the address, and we rode the rest of the way making small talk.

 **.**

I wiped my head from sweat as I switched the OPEN sign off. I got changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"I'm off!" I announced to Jenny and Hibiki. "See you tomorrow!"

I got to the bus station, and checked my phone to see when it'll be here.

"Huh… it usually comes around 20:10…" It was 20:13. I don't remember seeing the bus take off through the shop windows. I checked the status of the buses in Mongolia, but apparently they were canceled today.

"Huh… I guess I'll just walk to Virgo's. It's not far, and I could probably use some fresh air," I said aloud to myself.

I walked along, stopping at some of the shop windows that I passed to look through. I noticed that more shops were closed very early and less people were attending the streets than usual. I ignored it and continued walking.

As I went further along, I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped, and I heard that they were indeed, not mine.

I continued walking, planning to take a secret way to Virgo's apartment through an alley Virgo taught me, just to be safe.

I turned left into it, and a large brick building blocked the way. I realized that this was not the alley Virgo told me there was. Thinking it was the next one down, I turned around, but I found that the large footstep sounds were following me, and a man emerged though the darkness of the alley.

He had a strange pointy hat and dark purple lipstick.

"Little girl…" He said, in a very high, disturbing voice. "What are you doing in the city, this late at night?" He kept walking towards me.

"Umm… I was just…" But I couldn't finish my words. The man suddenly sprinted towards me and pinned me against the building wall.

He had one hand clamped tightly on my left arm, and my right was behind my back, being pressed between my back and the wall. With his other hand, he pinched a place on my neck, and his forearm pressed my chest, so it made it extremely hard to breathe or to move.

I tried to scream, but the place were he pinched my neck canceled my vocal cords, so my scream escaped as a pathetic whimper.

He moved extremely close to my face, and his breath smelled like cigarette smoke and rotten eggs.

He said in a soft whisper into my ear, "Scream all you want, little princess, but nobody will hear you…"

He then moved my left hand behind me, and pushed harder on the center of my chest with his forearm. He pulled out a knife with his now-free arm and stuck it near my thigh in a threatening way.

"Now…" He whispered into my face, making me sick with his breath. "Take off your top… or things aren't going to go too well for your little leg." He took his forearm off my chest and unpinched my neck, but he said coldly, "Scream, and I'll stab your leg, then I'll go straight for your neck."

I hesitated, but he demanded harder, "Take it off, bitch."

Adrenaline and fear clouded my senses, so I could barely see or hear. My body won't listen to my mind. The knife looked really sharp, so I was persuaded.

I took off my t-shirt. The cold hit me very hard, but it didn't wake me up from what I hoped it was a nightmare.

The man threw my shirt to the side of the wall, and pressed his forearm to the center of my bra and pinched my neck again, which was even very more uncomfortable than it was before.

He stared at my breast, which disgusted me on so many levels. Thank God I still had my bra on.

He looked back up at my face, and he studied me from the neck down to my chest. He looked near my collarbone, and did the strangest, and most terrifying thing he could do to my collarbone area. He swept his tongue over it, and it sent me shivers all over. He looked back up to my face and licked the tip of my nose.

He moved his face to my ear and whispered, "After this is done, you'll realize this is just the beginning." He started to move his head forward to my chest, and I panicked even more than I did before.

Suddenly, a fist collided with his temple, and a hand grabbed mine and pulled me away. I only felt what was going on. Fear clouded my hearing and sight.

 **~Sorry if this chapter was intense…~**


	11. Chapter 11

**~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

I was working on my paper for science, when suddenly,

"Brother, a friend from your school wants to speak to you," said my brother, Zeref from behind the door. "He claims his name is Fullbuster, Gray-san."

I groaned. _What is that Ice-For-Brains doing here?_

"Fine," I answered, moodily. "Let him in."

I propped myself up on my bed, and Gray walked in, of course, topless. For half humor, I threw him a shirt lying on my bed.

Gray caught it and sneered at me. "I'm here for a reason, Flame-Brain."

"What is it, stripper?" I asked, smirking.

"Lucy may need a ride to her maid's house. The buses are closed down."

"What? Why do you check the buses?" I questioned.

"I usually take the bus home from school. Anyway, as a leader of the club, I think it's best that you try to look for her. I'll come along," requested Gray.

I groaned. "Whyyy… I'm fine on my own. Why do you have to come?"

"Because three is better than two when it comes to a car ride," he smirked, which made him look like such a jackass. "I don't want you and Lucy to be alone."

"Fine. But, I will not step foot in that cold… dank, depressing vehicle you call a 'car' outside of my house. We'll take mine."

"But!-" But I already pulled Gray outside and into my car.

 **.**

"That's where she works," I pointed out to the left of me, dodging the filthy face of my enemy with my hand.

"Alright," said Gray, not waiting for the car to fully stop, climbed out before I did.

I tailed him, walking along the depressing and surprisingly empty sidewalks. Usually in a place like this, couples would take little walks along the cute sidewalk, but apparently, not today.

Keeping the ' _couples walking along thought_ ' in my mind, I backed away from Gray a little.

When we got beside an alley, I heard grunting, whimpering, and whispering beside me. I glanced at Gray, who was nearer to the alley to the left, already was running towards the distress.

I ran after him, and I saw that Gray was punching a strange man in the temple, who was cornering… Lucy.

I swiftly ran to her and grabbed her hand, and flew out back into the sidewalks towards her maid, Virgo's apartment.

I knew immediately what happened. She probably got cornered by this man, and he assaulted her. She wasn't responding much to how we were running, so I considered that she was too shocked to process what was happening.

Finally, when we reached Virgo's apartment, I flung open the lobby doors, and shut them back behind us. I scanned the lobby for a chair, and when I saw one, I propped Lucy on it, and hugged her to let her know she was safe.

I heard heavy breathing, and I turned to her face.

"Lucy… are you okay?" I said, softly.

Lucy responded slowly, but nodded. She then pushed me away then covered her bare arms with her hands. Wait… _bare arms_?

I noticed now that she was only wearing a bra. Possibly her assaulter forced her top off of her.

I took off my shirt and put it on Lucy. I got back into the chair with her and let her snuggle up and fall asleep.

My heart was pounding a little but I let her stay like that.

I remembered then that answer on the internet about my question. Granted, it was an answer off of the internet, but I couldn't help but think of it. What it said was,

 _Certain objects, scents, or places could trigger memories of a person important to you. These memories do not come to people often. It could be possible for the person in the memories that are triggered could be a of the following: Blood Enemy, Best Friend, Person You Fell in Love With._

I was still trying to wrap my head around it, trying to understand if it was a giant mistake Wikipedia gave me, or if I was actually in love with Lucy. I was really hoping for the giant mistake.

Before I could %100 get my opinions straight, Gray bursted into the lobby, slamming the door behind him, panting like a dog who just ran a mile.

He glanced at me, and frowned suspiciously. I then realized that I was topless, and holding Lucy while she slept in my arms in the chair. I turned red as Gray snickered evilly at me at my actions.

"Guess who's the 'Stripper Pervert' now, dumbass?" He laughed in my face.

I held a finger up to my mouth, signaling him to, _Shut the hell up, Gray!_

"She's asleep…" I whispered to Gray. "Imagine how happy she'll wake up to find that this was all a nightmare."

"Well…" said Gray, barely even softer than he was before. "It was not a dream. How do you think she'll react to find that it wasn't a bad dream?"

I lifted her up gently into my arms. "I need to get her to her maid's room."

"How will you find out where her maid's apartment is, exactly?" He questioned, signaling around the room that we were the only ones inside.

I grimaced, trying to think about it. Gray his his fist on the palm of his hand, saying, "Let's search around Lucy's phone."

I glared at him. "No offense to your 'brilliant idea,' but it is very bad and rude to search around a girl's phone without permission.

"Got a better idea, Flame-Brain?"

"Well…" I pondered. "What if she has a passcode?"

Gray moved over to me, and pulled Lucy's phone out of her jeans pocket. He checked it, and tried of what looked like a PIN. He unlocked it third try.

"How did you do that?" I asked, in amazement.

"Well," he started, pondering. "Lucy seems like a very private person with a lot of fake friends looking over her shoulder, so she has to change her password a lot. It needs to be something easy to remember, so I tried the basic options, 1234, 5567, or 0963, which was the PIN. It's very simple when you think about it."

"Damn you and your fake smartass act. You just did the first things you thought of without logic."

"Anyway…" Gray avoided the subject. "Lucy seems very organized, so she has to have a reminder somewhere of her maid's room number. Lemme check in _Notes_."

I waited impatiently while Gray tried to figure out what the number was. I sat down, and propped up Lucy next to me, because my arms started to hurt. I realized that she is a very heavy sleeper, or just went through a lot.

"I found the category! Her maid's name is… Virgo, right?" Gray announced rather loudly.

"Shh!" I demanded. "And yes, her name's Virgo, from what Levy told me. What took you so long?"

Gray came up to the chair, pinched my ear, hard, and commanded, "Up, dumbass! Grab Lucy and we'll get her to her room. No more stupid questions."

 **.**

We succeeded in bringing Lucy to Virgo's room. Much to Gray's and my surprise, Virgo did not show any reaction to two topless men carrying in her unconscious mistress bridal-style into her apartment.

She offered for us to come in.

"Please place Lucy-san atop the couch, and I shall tend to the rest. I request thou shall seat yourselves," she said.

I placed Lucy gently on the couch, using the armrest as a pillow for her.

We watched as Virgo searched through Lucy's drawers beside the couch after we sat down on some nearby chairs. She pulled out a pair of pink pajamas and went and placed them in the bathroom.

When Virgo got back, she picked up Lucy and disappeared into the bathroom.

Gray stared after them and said with his usual stupid tone, "What was that about?"

I shrugged.

Shortly, Virgo exited the bathroom, holding Lucy with a pair of pajamas on. She put her back on the couch, and put a blanket over her. She then held my shirt in front of us.

"Is this belonging to one of thy?"

I took the shirt carefully, turning pink from embarrassment. "Sorry… We'll explain how this happened."

Gray explained most of it, including his "brilliant idea" about searching Lucy's phone after guessing her password the third time, while I was putting my shirt on, and mostly when I was marveling at how strange Virgo was. Her being such a good listener, and her being completely emotionless.

We heard a groaning behind us, and Lucy opened her eyes. I got up from my chair and sat at the edge of the couch. I stroked her hair until she woke.

"Hey Luce," I greeted softly at the half-awake girl.

She squinted. "Natsu…?"

"Yeah."

She blinked twice. "Is this a dream…? Was the man in the alley a dream?"

I leaned close to her. "Yeah, Luce. This is a dream. Go ahead and fall back asleep again."

Lucy blinked slowly, and again, fell asleep peacefully.

Virgo walked up towards the couch, and said, "Dragneel-sama, Lucy-san has been speaking about the club, and also thy. I ponder it'll be best if Lucy-san lives with thy."

My eyes widened. "Why..?"

"Dumbass," Gray broke in. "It's really dangerous out here! Lucy got sexually assaulted, almost nobody walks out in the streets. Loke told me about it. It's a really sketchy place."

"Yes. Fullbuster-sama is correct. I am simply not comfortable with Lucy-san's currently situation with safety," explained Virgo. "Therefore, she lives with thy."

I grimaced and glanced at Lucy. I sighed.

"Fine…" I decided with a serious tone. "It's for her safety. I am the leader of the club, and I should accept a member's situation and invite them to a safe place when needed."

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

 _Please let it be a nightmare. It's something I'll forget when I wake up. It's just a dream. If it's not, at least please let it be real someone has saved me. I won't wake up in a stranger's tent with a creepy freak licking my face._

I finally opened my eyes. Apparently I was back at Virgo's. I didn't remember much at all, but I remember me being pinned up to a wall with a man threatening me with a knife, and licking my face and neck.

I looked to my side, and I saw Natsu, with very concerned eyes.

"N-Natsu?" I fluttered my eyes fully opened, and sat up on the couch. "Gray? What are you guys doing here?"

"Do you not remember waking up about an hour ago?" Natsu asked, with a soft and deeper tone.

"No…" I answered, wracking my brain

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Was it..." I mumbled, looking down.

Gray came over to the couch and stood by my head. "What do you remember?"

I said slowly, "Well... There was this freaky man… and he pinned me up against the wall in the alley. He me with a kn-knife… and forced me to take off my t-shirt. He started to…-"

I was stopped by unexpected tears that streamed down my face.

I glanced at Gray, who looked uneasy, but when I glanced at Natsu, he looked extremely shocked and guilty.

"Natsu?" I questioned, while wiping my tears away. "I'm okay… I'm fine, really."

He ducked his head down, his salmon locks covering his expression. "Lucy… Virgo suggested that you live with me."

I glanced at Virgo, uneasily. All she did was stare, and nod.

I looked back at Natsu. "W-why?"

He looked back down and grimaced.

"Lucy," broke in Gray. "This place is dangerous. I hear a lot of NEWS reports about attempted murder, and how you experienced it, sexual assault. Natsu's neighborhood is in a really expensive, therefore, safe, and he has high security in his house. Sure, you'll be living with a dense idiot, and his weird brother, but it's the best option."

"Lucy-san," said Virgo, bowing. "May I gather your things for your move?"

"U-Ummm…" I replied, putting my hands up. "One moment, I need to process all of this, since I just woke up from a faint, and full of shock from what has happened. Natsu, if it's okay with you, I'll live with you, but why do you look so troubled? I'm okay now. There's nothing wrong, and it could have been a lot worse."

Natsu placed his hand on my blonde head and stroked it. He stayed silent.

"Um… Natsu?" I said, embarrassed. "What are you doing?..."

"Natsu, quit being a pervert and leave Lucy's hair alone," Gray said, rolling his eyes.

Natsu looked up, his hand still on my head. "Says the guy who goes around not wearing clothes."

Gray sneered. "It's not my fault!"

"Who's is it?!" Natsu shot, standing up with his hand still on my head.

I sweat-dropped.

"You wanna go?"

"Yeah, I wanna go, stripper!"

"Flame-brain!"

"Ice bastard!"

"Fire freak!"

"We're here!" Yelled a friendly and familiar voice through the door.

"Lucy, are you okay?" asked Erza, going over, pinching the boy's ears.

Levy ran over to the couch and hugged me. I noticed that Natsu's hand was still on my head.

Mira also came through the door, with a large man with yellow hair and a fuzzy coat. He was unrecognizable.

"Laxus!" Yelled Natsu. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Mira blushed, and "Laxus" remained silent. "We'll discuss that later," said Mira. "In the mean time, Gray texted us, and we rushed over right away. Lu-chan, are you okay?"

I stared at all my friend's concerned and worried faces, and a unexpected chuckle arose in my throat. The chuckle grew into laughter. I laughed for half a minute, and my ribs got sore.

"Oh God…" murmured Levy. "The experience made her mad…"

"Luuu-chan!" Mira called to me, and shook me on the shoulders. The action made my laughter worse.

I clutched the sides of my waist and laughed hard.

"Y-You… You guys!" I said between laughs. "You d-don't need to be so worried!"

Levy's jaw hung open. "Lu-chan... Why are you laughing?"

I wiped the tears of laughter away from my face. "I dunno," I answered.

I noticed once more that Natsu has not taken off his hand from my head.

"Natsu? How long are you going to clutch my head?"

Natsu looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Glad you stopped crying, Luce! Everyone! I have an announcement to make!"

Everyone stared at Natsu's quick change of behavior and listened to their club's leader.

"Lucy is going to stay at my place until she has enough money for an apartment," Natsu let out.

Everyone gaped.

"Twist!" Mira yelled, breaking the silence.

"Oh God no…" Levy murmured, placing her palm on her face. "Mira-chan, I doubt it's like that. This town is suspicious, and Lucy turned to the leader of the club."

"Lucy can stay at my place if she's not comfortable at a male's home," Erza spoke up.

Natsu put on a pout face. "But... I'm lonely…"

"Natsu!" I spoke up. "Please answer, why the hell is your hand on my head?!"

Natsu did an evil face. "I'm proving to Gray he's more of a pervert than me, even if I do this for an hour straight."

"You could'a made that clearer," said Gray, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"Gray, pants," pointed out Erza, referring to Gray's boxers.

Gray groaned, "Why does this happen…-"

" _Changing the subject_ ," I interrupted his complaint. "You're going to keep your hand on my head for an hour?"

"Fifty-five minutes to be exact," murmured Levy, timidly.

"Just to prove a stupid point?" The guy with spiked yellow hair finally said something.

"Laxus spoke at last," dragged Natsu. "Now _we're_ in for a lot of fun…"

Ignoring what the boys were talking about, I peeled Natsu's hand off my head.

Natsu switched hands and placed his right on my head.

Levy pulled him away and I shielded my golden head. "Natsu, stop! I've been through a lot today, and the last thing I need is you annoying me like hell tonight!"

"Speaking of tonight," spoke up Mira. "What time is it right now?"

"22:25," answered Levy, checking her phone. "10:25 for twelve-hour time."

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked Gray, not trusting Natsu.

But it was the one and only Natsu who answered. "For about two hours."

"Then we'd better get home and let Lucy rest," said Erza. "Lucy, do you want to come with me or stay with Natsu?"

I actually decided to ponder about this. Erza did scare me, but seemed only slightly soft, and I didn't know what her house was like. Natsu, on the other hand, was annoying, but charismatic. His house was nice, and it seemed to have a lot of extra bedrooms.

"Erza," I spoke. "What kind of home do you live in?"

"Apartment," she answered. "Nothing fancy or completely secure, but it has an extra bedroom. We have to share a bathroom though."

I saw everyone except Natsu and Erza (And of course, the silent Virgo) left, before I made up my mind.

"But... I'm lonely…" Natsu murmured. "Plus, she needs a safe place to stay. She's pretty vunerable."

I couldn't help but snicker at Natsu's pouty face.

"Erza," I said, after making up my mind. "It'd be nice to hang out with another girl my age all the time, but I am used to a larger space and I think Natsu's place seems more secure."

I left out the part about her scaring me.

"Okay," answered Erza. "But if he gets out of hand, you have a place to stay at my apartment."

She patted my shoulder before leaving, leaving just Natsu, and me packing my stuff to move to the Dragneels'.


	12. Chapter 12

**~| Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

I was sleeping peacefully, everything was wonderful for my first night, but then,

"LUCY!" Somebody woke me from my wondrous dreams.

I rose my head and squinted my eyes, only to find a boy my age with salmon pink hair staring at me with a blank expression.

"What..?" I yawned.

"You're hair's all weird…" Natsu stated bluntly.

I glared at him through sleepy eyes. "Is _that_ the reason you came running into my room, screamed out my name, and awoke me from my peaceful sleep? Not to mention, this is my first day in your home after a very shocking, stressful situation that happened yesterday. I need sleep after that."

Natsu scrunched up his face. "Hmmm… You made me forget why I woke you up early… Oh! Right! You need to unpack most of your stuff."

I blinked my eyes and yawned once more. "Eh… Okay, just let me get dressed and get ready so I can do that."

Natsu grinned widely, then left my room in peace.

I got off the bed, only to study the empty room once more. Of course, it wasn't completely empty, just it was so large that even including the bed, the suitcase, the closet doors, and myself it looked like a clear and flawless space. I intended to keep it that way. It had shiny, red walls with an orange comforter on the bed. It strongly represented flames, so I could guess Natsu had slept here once.

I only unpacked the essentials, and deciding to unpack more once I got home from work today.

I got dressed into my uniform, and exited the room to unpack for the bathroom, only to find a Russian Blue cat staring up at me with its giant yellow eyes. It immediately reacted to the stranger in its house by purring and rubbing up against her legs.

Me, being the stranger, thought this was in fact, strange.

"Natsu…" I called out to the certain boy owning the house. "You have a cat?"

Natsu came in, and found the Russian Blue flicking its gray-ish blue fur against my ankles.

"Oi! Happy, there you are. I wanted to introduce you to our new roommate, but I seen that you have done it yourself," said Natsu, grinning cheek to cheek.

I hesitated. "W-wait… Happy… blue cat…. Exceed… Did you name your blue cat after the blue exceed in Fairy Tail? Lucas's for life partner, who is your favorite character in the manga and anime?"

"How did you know he is my favorite character?" Natsu asked, picking up Happy.

"You send comments in the club chat on Skype 24\7 and you and Gray fight over who is better. Lucas or Lloyd."

Natsu glared at me with his slanty eyes. "I'll have you know for two facts, that, Lucas is better, and that I named Happy 'Happy' _before_ I got into Fairy Tail. He is a very happy cat, so I named him that, and you don't know how much I laughed when I started to get into Fairy Tail about it! Anyway, get your shoes on, we haft'a leave. My place is a little far away from the Academy, so we have to leave early."

The color drained out of my face when I remembered riding to his place from Virgo's apartment, and his place was the opposite way away from the Academy, and Virgo's is pretty far. "Wait… how far away?"

"'Bout half an hour."

 **.**

After a fifteen-minute lecture with the Principal and an average amount of time with classes, I met up with Natsu at the door of the Principal's office.

"What'cha get lectured for?" Asked Natsu, walking with me to the club room.

"Being late. What else would I get lectured for?" I asked, looking suspiciously at him.

"I picked a fight with Clive-Sensei when he started to tell me the 'importance in punctuality' and 'influence on lower-classmen,' and a lot of other words I didn't know the meaning of." Natsu curled his middle and index finger, exaggerating the words that Clive-Sensei said when he told me, which made me burst into laughter.

Natsu showed off his grin again. "So, I picked a fight with him, saying that those things were not important. Clive-Sensei just laughed, and knocked my head to the floor. It hurt, but it hurt even more after a lecture from Grandeeny-San. I think I still got a bump on my head from it."

"You do?" I asked, reaching my hand up to ruffle through his salmon locks.

Suddenly, a strange feeling arose when I touched his head, and I immediately jerked back my hand.

Natsu turned over with confused eyes. "What's wrong?"

I stared at my hand. I looked up at his lost face. "It's nothing… Let's just go to the clubroom."

 _I think I got to see a doctor_ , I thought, with my heart still pounding.

 **.**

"Before we start the normal meeting for today," Erza called the clubroom for attention for announcements. "I have a very important announcement for us, and Mira-tan wants to announce something very essential as well." She looked around the clubroom, and from the looks of it, signaled someone in the midst of people on a very popular table.

A small boy I've immediately recognized as a kid from the orphanage we hosted a field trip for, walked on the stage, looking quite bashful in his new uniform.

"Everyone," called Erza. "This is Romeo. He is new to the Academy, and is new to the club as well. His foster father is none other than Conbolt Macao, older member of the club. Romeo, would you like to say a few words?"

Romeo stepped more forwards to face the crowd ahead of him, and spoke- "At the Orphanage, I was always a fan of 90's anime I saw on DVD which I stole by rummaging through old junk in the storage room. I watched it on the TV in the front, and none of the adults stopped me. I loved it. And when I got adopted from Macao, I asked from suggestion of my good friend, Wendy, that if I could watch Fairy Tail, the anime everyone here loves so much. My foster dad, being a big fan, gave me permission, and I've been enjoying it ever since. It is my first modern day anime, which the improvement of the animation and the quality has surprised me, and has made me watch more. I am currently on episode 21, and I am looking forward to more."

A big applause from the clubroom seemed like a huge applause from a decent crowd at a concert.

Romeo respectfully bowed, and left Erza on the stage of the old mock-court room, applauding along with the crowd. "Alright, would Mira-tan come up and tell us her 'big announcement?'"

Mira got up from her place on our bench, and dragged along that silent, yellow-haired man that appeared at Virgo's. Apparently his name was Laxus.

"Everyone…" announced Mira. "Me and Laxus are engaged!"

The huge, shocked, and surprised crowd in the club room broke out into an even louder applause then when Romeo gave his speech.

Me and Levy yelled in chorus, "Mira-chan! Congratulations!"

Mira waved to everyone, letting her ring sparkle in the light, and Laxus smiled, looking very pleased and happy.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence :| Evening |~**

I puffed out my lips, thinking of what to do. I have already unpacked everything, cleaned multiple times, and checked and re-checked if I unpacked everything alright. And, I was at a boring part in _Durarara!_ so I couldn't just drop it and watch something else.

An idea hit me as I sat up on my bed and stared at my old laptop. I remember about a month ago I was writing a novel, but stopped when I was getting to an uninteresting part and lost inspiration, but, over the past month, I have continued the story in my mind easily.

I walked over and opened the old, dusty, but surprisingly fast writing laptop to click on a writing platform and opened my novel.

I re-read it, noticing errors, and corrected them. After about a half-an-hour, I continued the novel.

 _Iris tramped slowly towards the mysterious closet, cautiously, not losing a heartbeat in her stride. Before she could open it to reveal the secret, her partner Cindy suddenly shrieked! "AAAHHH!" She cried pitifully. Iris looked over her shoulder briskly, and her eyes revealed-_

"LUCY!" Cried a certain boy I was living with.

I jumped when I heard his cracky voice. "Natsuu!~ I was just getting in the zone-"

I quickly saved the document and slammed my computer shut, blushing heavily.

Natsu tilted his head. "Why are you so red? And nervous too?"

"Uhhm..." I murmured, trying to think up a way to get out of the horror novel situation. I did not want anybody to find out about my writing secret, _especially_ not Natsu. He would never let the fact go.

"Nothing! I was just... reading a manga..?"

Natsu stared intensely from across the room. "Then why are you so nervous..?"

"Uhhm...-"

"OOh!" Cried Natsu. "Now I know! Are you reading that yaoi stuff that Mira told me about? She says she blushes like a maniac and sometimes gets a nosebleed from that junk. I heard it was boy x boy stuff... which is kinda-"

"Natsu, why are you here?" I interrupted, firmly.

"Oh! That's right! It's dinner time. I ordered pizza," he said, grinning brightly. "I was thinking about- wait... Never mind, let's go eat! WAIT! I want to find out what your doing on that computer!"

Natsu ran across the room to me, looking like a foolish child. He sat down uncomfortably close, which made me move to the left a bit more to avoid him. "Natsu, what were you going to say earlier? About what you were thinking about?"

Natsu turned bright red. "T-That's none of your business! Only Zeref's and mine!"

"Ooooh! Now I'm curious!" I exclaimed, looking at him cruelly. I've never seen Natsu act embarrassed before.

Natsu glared at me. "Fine. I'll show you my secret if you show me yours. It's a better way to get to know each other."

I crossed my arms over my cotton t-shirt. "Fine. But do _not_ tell anybody about this! I'll be ruined!"

"And my secret, too!"

We shook hands, but again, I felt the strange thing I felt back in the hallway when I ruffled Natsu's hair. I quickly let go.

"Natsu, before I show you my secret, have you been lately rubbing your hair with a helium balloon when I'm not around?"

Natsu tilted his head. "No. Have you?"

I sighed with disappointment, and flipped open my laptop.

I stared at Natsu while his eyes grew wide while reading the story.

After about twenty minutes of "ooh~'s" and "ahh~'s" and "OMIGOD" moments, Natsu finally turned over and shot me a look, close to my face. "Why did you stop there?!" He demanded.

"Because _you_ interrupted my glorious moment!"

"Gaaah!~" exclaimed Natsu, clutching his face in his hands and falling back on my bed. "Why do you have to keep that a secret!? That is an amazing story!"

I flushed. "It is?"

Natsu took his hands off his face. "Yeah it is! Better than any fan fiction I've read. And why's your face always so red? You gotta fever or something?"

"No..." I answered, looking at the boy. "Just... I never thought somebody'd like _my_ writing..."

Natsu stared at me, still lying down, in a silence.

After 10 seconds passed of unwanted silence, I broke it by saying, "It's time to show me your secret!"

Natsu grimaced and yelled, "No! Your's wasn't a secret! It was just a hidden talent! Then again...-"

"C'mon!" I commanded, pulling Natsu off my bed by his sleeve. "After you," I grinned, offering Natsu to show me where an object, or object _s_ or something or other he was hiding from the outside world.

Natsu left my room and into the hallway. He led me downstairs, and I grew suddenly excited, thanks to the aroma of freshly delivered pizza.

We entered a dark basement, and Natsu surprised me by grabbing my hand. "The light's on the other side of the room, and there's steps. Be careful."

I held on to his hand, even though the uncomfortable reaction happened again. Ignoring the feeling, I noticed that Natsu's hand was warm, kind of like his personality. I felt my face was slightly warm as well, and I ignored it.

We reached the end of the room, and Natsu let go of my hand.

The room was suddenly lit with a bright light over what looked like a cooking station and a teppanyaki.*

 **** A teppanyaki is an Asian type of stove that you often see in sushi restaurants ****

"Here it is... my secret!" Natsu announced, spreading his arms to his reveal, but his face blank and rather depressing.

"Woah! You cook?" I asked with amazement.

"Learning, actually."

"Why'd you want to keep this a secret?"

He went up to the station and turned on the heat for the cooker.

"It seems like too much of a cliché, you know? A guy who loves all things geeky, anime and manga, and countless crushes on vocaliods... and is learning how to cook? And I'm not that good, too. I pretty much only know how to fry and flambé."

"You know how to flambé?" I asked him with awe.

"Yeah. I'll show you."

Natsu put his hand over the teppanyaki to check the heat, and took a bottle of oil behind him. He squirted the oil all over the giant iron grill with ease, and it caught on fire. Not the kind that was smokey, and scorching, but the kind that was warm and safe. Made for cooking.

Natsu swiftly spilled a substance that made the fire go out. It succeeded, and left itself sizzling on the top of the teppanyaki. Natsu took a spatula, scraped it across the top, and left the oil on the side. To the right of him was a sink, and he filled a cup full of water. He poured it all over the cooker, making the biggest steam puff I've seen. He quickly turned off the heat, and turned towards me.

Natsu bowed, making me laugh. I clapped loudly. "I've only seen stuff like that at restaurants and on TV with professionals, but I'd never thought I'd see an amateur in action."

Natsu only looked up to the ceiling, with an embarrassed face, and said, "oi..."

 **~|: Lucy's POV : The Next Day : Mongolia Academy :|~**

"Heartfilia-san!" Millianna cried out from behind me after class. "You never call! For the past month you've been avoiding us. Is anything wrong?"

I sighed, and stopped in the hallway. I thought it would be dangerous to walk to the clubroom with a fake friend behind my back. One word to Millianna about it, and it'd go all around both collage students and high school students.

"I thought none of you contacted me since then. Is anything wrong with me not being there? Are you doing well on your grades in your classes?"

Millianna looked taken aback. "Well... yeah. All of us miss you, Heartfilia-san."

"Is that the only answer? You don't just want me to study with you because I'll help you boost your grades?"

"Well...-"

"Let me guess, you haven't noticed I was gone until that big test and extra university exams are coming up for the end of the year. I'm going to tell you, I have new friends now, and with the time I should be spending with them shouldn't be wasted on hanging out with fake friends like you who, and yes, I've noticed for a long time now, only use me for my intelligence. Sorry, but I'm splitting off with the group."

I left Millianna in the hallway without her getting a chance to speak. She did not follow, nor tried to speak. She just left me.

 **.**

"Sooo... how did your first day with Natsu go?~" Purred Cana, taking a swig of -what I hoped was something allowed on school grounds.

"Well... kind of boring, I guess. After I got home from school, I cleaned some of the house, unpacked, watched _Durarara_! and that was it."

I didn't dare to reveal the secrets me and Natsu shared to each other.

Levy popped out of nowhere and plopped down on the other side of me. "Heey Lu-chan! How's living with Natsu going?"

I sighed. "What do you want from me?" I hid my face in my crossed arms on the table.

"I want to ask you what's wrong," said Cana. "You seem real down. More than usual."

"And _how_ exactly do I _usually_ act?" I asked, looking up at the drunken brunette.

"Eh, kinda depressing but energetic at the same time. You're kinda whiny... and expressive, which makes you depressing. But now... you're just... depressing-depressing." She took another swig. "I get honest... *hiccup* when I'ma drunk~"

I turned to the petite bluenette on my right. "Is that how I usually act?"

"Yeah! I guess you don't notice it as much as we do," she piped. "What's bringing you down, ~Luu-chan?~" She said my nickname with a singsong voice.

Just *riight* where I needed him, Natsu popped up behind me and threw his arm around me. "Yoo Luce!"

I sighed. "Natsu... get off!"

Due to my sudden outburst, Natsu threw back his arm, full of panic.

I looked behind me.

"Luce, you okay?" Said, Natsu, taken aback.

I just then noticed that I yelled pretty loud, and that Cana, Levy, Natsu, and a few other on-lookers were looking at me. I sighed and groaned loudly, hiding my red, embarrassed face in my arms again.

Levy pat my back. "Lu-chan... it's okay to tell us... but if you don't want to, you don't have to. Just..- if you tell us, we can give you either comforting, support, or even a solution. That's what friends are for."

Those words hit my heart. Along with Levy's adorable, high and positive voice, it _was_ truly comforting.

"Oh Levy-chan..." I said, looking up at her. "Thanks."

I sighed, stretching my arms on the table. I explained gloomily, "I broke off with my older friends, and I left kind of abruptly, so I feel kind of bad for her."

"Her? Singular?" Asked Natsu.

"Oh... yeah. I only told it to one person, Millianna. I hang out with their group sometimes. I barely do though. I consider them fake friends. I hardly know all their names."

"I can't remember anybody's names right now... *hiccup* Luccccyyy~ I'm falling..." She fell on top of me, stuffing her face into my chest. I blushed a rose quartz as I pushed her drunken self back.

"I thought she said she can't remember anybody's names..." mumbled Natsu.

I shrugged.

"Who do you consider your real friends?" Asked Levy, hugging me from behind.

"Well, you guys. You know my true self and how I'm like, and I hardly socialize with anybody else in the Academy. Plus, you guys are the only ones that I understand. I can hardly get through anybody, even my dad."

Levy hugged me tighter. "We love you, Lu-chan!"

Just then, Mira walked toward our little table, and smiled at us warmly.

"Hello! I was just wanting to give you these... and I have some questions to ask you guys," she said, handing us envelopes. "Open the letters first."

We each found our names with fancy font written on each of them. I picked mine and read it.

Dear Heartfilia, Lucy,

 _You are invited to the wedding of Strauss, Mirajane, and Dreyar, Laxus. We hope you attend, and answer the question of attendance._

 _O Single_

 _O Plus 1_

 _O Not Going_

 _The ceremony will be held June 1st, 2017 at Mongolia Cathedral._

 _~The Happy Couple, Mira and Laxus_

"Wow Mira! This is great! But... On June first? Isn't that kind of close?" I asked.

"We already have the caterers, orchestra, and everything else set in stone! I'm also asking you and Levy if you can be my brides' maids!"

I stared at her, jaw-dropped. "Woah... Mira! But... I just met you, like a month ago... Is that okay?"

"More than okay! I already have Kinana as one, and Lisanna as my maid of honor. I have four if I have you guys!"

"Sure, Mira! I'm honored!" Chimed Levy.

"...Okay! I'll except!" I joined.

The only thing wrong with that, is that I knew nothing about weddings.


	13. Chapter 13

****Warning:**

 ****This is sort of a filler chapter, sorry /^.^\\\ ****

 **~| Natsu's POV : Mongolia Academy : May 20th :|~**

"Why'd you have to team me up with this jerk?" I complained to the red-head leading the project.

"Because you never get along with him," explained Erza. "This isn't exactly the safest project, so you need to bond somehow. You do hardly know anything about him, and all you've done is argue ever since high school, and this is a long one, so good luck with bonding with Gray."

I turned over to the raven-haired nudist. He just scowled. I could guess that he wasn't too happy with the arrangement either.

"All right, listen up!" Announced Erza on the stage. "We are doing a group project today!"

All eyes turned to her.

"We are going to clean the river on Strawberry Street as a service project for the town. We are going to be greatly praised, and for a reward, formal attire for the festival the high schoolers will be hosting. We are going to be picking up trash on the streets and bridge, cleaning out the trash and muck in the river, and scrubbing the sides of the stream going through the street. I have arranged partnerships for the attending workers. Natsu," she said, looking at me. "Please hand these out to the club members."

I grumpily took the envelopes she gave to me.

I started passing them out when a certain brown-eyed blonde caught my eye. Lucy was typing furiously on her cellphone with an angry look on her face.

I walked over to her, after handing out envelopes to the passing members.

"Luce?" I asked.

She swiftly looked up from her phone. Her face grew softer. "Oh, hi Natsu. I... just got fired."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah... Ever since I moved over to your place, it's been harder to work since I live further away now. Hibiki took it as the last straw with me telling him that I needed to postpone my shift."

"Luce, I'm so sorry about that! I guess I didn't really consider the location for you, I probably-"

"No! No no no, Natsu. It's really not your fault. I was the one who didn't consider the location. It really doesn't have to do with you at all. I just need to find a job more doable, that's close-by and available for me to do after club activities."

"Oh... okay. Hey, how about I find one two? I mean, I don't have a job, and it'll be fun to work together!" I suggested.

"Um..." Lucy looked to her right, spectating Juvia and Wendy chatting. "I'll think about it. Anyways, I have to go to Erza-senpai. I'm working with her today."

She went off to the lone co-president, waiting for her on the other side of the room, on the stage.

I sighed. _I can never figure out what she's thinking..._ I thought.

I went off to go to Gray, in a small argument with Loke, about fifty feet from me.

 **~|Lucy's POV : Strawberry Street :|~**

I sighed. "I'd be nice to live here... The soon-to-be clean streets and river, with the beautiful trees and apartment neighborhood... Not to mention, it's really close to the Academy."

"Indeed," agreed Erza. "I wish to live here as well. I just live in a small apartment on the other side of the school. I think someone mentioned that it was the dorms... but I don't really know."

I stared at Erza with confusion. "Do you live in the dorms? What's the address?"

The red-haired co-president looked at me with her large purple-ish brown eyes and recited the address.

"That's the dorms..." a drop of sweat fell down my head.

"Oh... okay. Anyways, let's clean up. I wouldn't want this place to be horrible. The children would grow up in such a harsh environment."

My eyes sparkled while I picked up a aluminum can. "Awww, that's so sweet of you to think of the kids growing up here!"

"Well... I didn't grow up in the best place, so I want to make it up for my childhood for children not to live like that."

*Huh?* I knew from that moment that I was curious.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Strawberry Street :|~**

"Awww! This sucks, trying to work with such a wimp like you," Gray complained.

"'Kay, keep your shirt on, Fullbuster. Erza personally asked me to do this job from a complaint a mother sent to the school about us teenagers littering. Would _you_ like to grow up in a place full of trash? Like Erza did?"

"Erza lived in a different environment. Plus, I grew up in North Russia, a worse environment. I'm complaining because _you_ , a spoiled brat, is working with _me_. Just shut your damn mouth and get working!"

"Wait- you grew up in Russia?! Why the hell did you not tell me?" I yelled.

"Hmmm... Lemme think- Because I hate you!" Gray answered rather loudly in my face.

"Gray! You _have_ to tell me about your past! It sounds awesome! Living in Russia, and all. Plus, Erza tells me we have to get closer to get along better."

Gray stared bluntly into my face. "Dude, I ain't telling you anything until I get some info from you. Tell me a few hilarious secrets and I'll spill."

I frowned. "Uhhh... I watch shoujo!"

"I watched _Kaichou wa Maid-sama!_ and I loved it, no shame there. Keep going."

"Damn you... uh... I ship LuKiko?"

"We all do," bluntly answered Gray.

"UUUUGH! None of this romance crap is working for you, huh?" I fell to the ground on my hands and knees. "Why..."

"Why are you so down?-"

"I have a secret!" I interrupted Gray. "Only me and Lucy know it, so is it enough for you to spill your past?"

"Only if it's good enough-"

I pulled my phone from my pocket, and I swiftly typed " _I Cook_ "into Gray's number, where endless of unfinished arguments about nothing lingered.

Gray received the most embarrassing notification I could of caused, but, to know Gray's living background of an anime character- it was worth it.

Gray burst out laughing. He said nothing, he just giggled his head off.

"Geez, what a cliché. Who would'a thunk?" He commented after his reaction. "Well, that entertained me enough, you got my background. Let me explain while we actually do our job."

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

"Erza-senpai... may I ask you an important question?" I asked.

"Oh, please, Lucy. Do not add senpai to the end of my name... it embarrasses me," answered Erza, but obviously pleased, with her face red and eyes sparkling. "And yes, you may ask me."

"Ummm... okay, Erza- _senpai~~~_ " I said, purring "senpai" with ease, which made Erza shiver with delight. "Will it be too much to about your past? It seems very interesting that you compare it to this area, you know, with the littering. Or is that too much?"

Erza pondered for a moment. Finally, she replied, "Well, Lucy, it's pretty hard to explain, mostly because it was a long time ago, and I don't particularly enjoy it." She continued to pick up trash along with me while she explained her past, like so-

"I grew up in a peaceful town, away from all the cities, in the country in faraway Japan. The place was called Rosemary Village. I enjoyed it a lot, but I didn't have much of a family there. All the sudden, construction workers came, and along with the mayor, forced all the families out of their homes to go move somewhere else, so they could build a large city there. Me, being one of the orphans, was transported to an orphanage close to Rosemary."

She stopped for a moment to take a drink of water. I stared at her in amazement. I knew, that this story was going to take me and my emotions somewhere.

She continued-

"I made friends there. A lot. Jellal, Simon, Millianna, Sho-kun-"

"Wait... did you say Millianna?" I interrupted. "I know her... she goes to our Academy."

"Oh, yes, I know. I broke off with her... when I started to trust Jellal..."

"Huh?"

"Listen closely, Lucy. The workers there forced us to do child labor in the orphanage. It was very difficult. We did the gardens by ourselves, painted the building without proper equipment, but it got much worse from there. We started to work on this construction site, building something called, The Tower of Heaven. It was a lot of work, and we hardly got enough to eat, drink, and we had a lack of sleep. Me and my friends planned to run away from the site, the work, and the cruel leaders. We planned to leave, Jellal was paid off to lead us back to Rosemary, where we had to work harder there. We ran away from our ruined home in Rosemary, and not knowing why Jellal was paid off."

I stared at Erza. "Wow... you have quite the history."

Erza did a small chuckle. "Well, Lucy, I want you to know some things about our club. Everyone there is an artist. They have their fantastic histories, backgrounds, and current situations. Not one of them shares the same cliché, normal life. Remember that when you talk to them. Anyway, the story isn't over."

She took another sip of water, and I did the same. She continued-

"I met Jellal ten years later. I learnt why we were paid off. He thought that we could get back to Rosemary, our home town, how it was before. He didn't know it changed. He apologized many times over, and of course, I have forgiven him. There is one problem, though. In Rosemary, our friend Simon was killed in labor, a beam fell a top his head, crushing him. Jellal still blames himself, and so does Millianna. Well, the story is over... I still keep in touch with my friends, and I miss our friendship, but we are proud of the hardworker's badge we have upon our chests."

Despite how much I had before, I still gaped at how much detail that Erza remembered.

"Erza, I thought you got rid of the memories... I mean, you said so earlier."

Erza looked up from her work. "Well, Lucy, maybe I was trying to avoid an unwanted memory, but, who can walk away from a literary moment. I mean, we are artists, after all," she smiled at me.

I stopped in my tracks. "Yeah... we write our own stories..."

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

Gray sighed and covered his face and sighed.

"It all started when a famous Russian murderer named Deliora killed my parents in my home town. I've always wanted to seek out Deliora... to fight him, and take him on, but I was only eight years old. I was weak, nobody took me seriously, until I met Lyon, a kid my age, who also had his parents murdered. He became my foster brother shortly when I met his foster mother, Ur, who became my master. We-"

"Wait... Master? Was she a slave driver or something?" I asked.

"Shut up, dumbass and listen to the story."

We continued to pick up trash and Gray kept talking.

"Ur-sensei trained me in self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, and exposure survival, where I had to take my clothes off in below freezing blizzards. That's where I get my stripping habit."

"Oooh," I interrupted unintentionally. "I just thought you were a master pervert."

Gray knocked my on the head. "Anyway... I heard that Deliora was loose somewhere in Moscow, and I got this crazy, brainless idea to seek him out and finally prove my worth, but Ur-sensei stopped me. Eventually Deliora made it to my home. He attempted to kill me and Lyon... being the heartless, crazy bastard he was. I sought to defeat him, so I charged straight up to him. He attempted to stab me, but Ur jumped in front of me," Gray stopped for a moment in his tracks. "Giving me and Lyon enough time to run... and...- and..."

I looked toward the crying raven-haired jerk I've always hated. His tears were dripping off his face, and his sobbing voice was unimaginable.

"Uh... dude... why the hell you crying...?"

His sobs got louder, and I got more uncomfortable.

Gray hid his face in his hands, dropping his garbage bag, and crouched on the ground, like he was attempting to disappear.

"Gray-sama?" I heard a high-pitched voice escape from the closest person.

A blue-haired teenage girl walked up to sobbing Gray. She covered her mouth in shock. I recognized her as one of Gajeel's old classmates, Jubia... Julia or something.

"Juvia is very discouraged at Gray-sama's distress..." the girl whispered to Gray.

 _Oh, it's Juvia..._

Juvia crouched down to sobbing Gray and hugged him close. "Gray-sama... no need to cry about anything... not something from the past, or for the future... we need to worry about the present, where Juvia is comforting you, where Gray-sama is letting these things go... please forget the troubles and regrets. As long as you repent, nothing else matters with past mistakes, learn from them..."

Gray pushed Juvia slowly and gently from him, and aware of the staring faces, wiped away his tears and looked bashfully down, away from everyone. I swear I heard him whisper, "thanks, Juvia..."

Juvia looked very pleased. "Yes, Gray-sama. Juvia appreciates Gray-sama's gratitude. Now, Gray-sama must fulfill his job."

She handed him his trash-claw and bag.

Gray got up. "Yeah, thanks again, Juvia."

 **~| Lucy's POV : Mongolia Academy : The Next Day :|~**

I waited outside of Millianna's classroom, E-6, Second Floor, C Students.

The door finally opened, and a flood of both unfamiliar and known faces flooded into the hall.

I searched around the hoard of older students, and finally found the short brown-haired girl I was looking for.

"Millianna-san!" I called out to her.

She turned around, and immediately her face turned sorrowful. She kept walking, ignoring me.

The hallway cleared up a little and I was able to walk toward her easily.

I finally caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Millianna-san, but can I see you for a second?" I asked.

Millianna turned around and shown her face of sadness. "Sorry, Heartfillia-san, but I may just use you if you let your guard down."

That hurt, but I was expecting something like that.

On queue, Erza emerged from the hall on the right, while I was still holding on to Millianna's shoulder.

"Hi, Millianna..." She said, with a tone of meekness I've never heard before.

"Er-ch... wait, what? Scarlet-san?" She exclaimed with surprise. She shoved my hand away. "Didn't I tell you not to come near me, Scarlet-san?"

"Millianna... won't you call me Er-chan like you used to?" Erza asked with sadness.

"N-no... You trusted Jellal- He sold us out! He was responsible for Simon's death... I'm not going to trust you if you accepted the fact that Jellal ruined our lives!"

"Millianna! Please hear me out-"

"No! No amount of reasoning is going to fix this! Jellal killed Simon, and you trusted him! You even..." There were tears in Millianna's eyes now. "You... even fell in love with him."

Silence fell in the hall for a moment, but it felt like forever.

Finally, Erza managed to say, "What...?"

"Yes! You fell in love with him!" Millianna burst out.

People were starting to look out of the doors to see what was going on.

"I saw the way you looked at him when I saw you forgive him!"

"Millianna!" Erza shouted, which shook both be and all the students observing.

"Hear me out for once! Yes! Jellal _was_ responsible for Simon's death, and *yes* he did lead us to Rosemary when it was in illegal laboring, but he didn't know that it was being torn down."

Millianna stared at Erza.

"Jellal regrets that he done so over a thousand times. He wasn't from Rosemary Village, and he knew we all lived there, and he didn't know the cause of us being transported to the orphanage. He asked the leader if we could get specially transported to Rosemary by special adoption as a trick, and he was ended up being paid unknowingly. After he moved to Mongolia he made up with me, and made up with Sho-kun, and Wally, and the others. I think it's time he apologizes with you."

I heard footsteps tapping up the stairs down the hall behind Erza. A blue haired young man with a red tattoo on his face walked towards us with a sorrowful expression.

He got down on his hands and knees before Millianna, and I swear, this was the first time I've seen someone grovel.

"Millianna, please accept my apology and mistake. I deeply regret everything I have done," A strong, stable voice came from the boy.

Millianna stared at Jellal on the ground, and tears came to her eyes.

"I... I..." she started crying completely. "I-I misunderstood-d Jellal-al... H-how could you do something a-as stupid as groveling... G-get up."

Jellal stood up and spread his arms.

Millianna slowly walked into them and sobbed. "I-I'm sorry, Jellal... A-and I forgive you."

Jellal gave off a smile.

Me, planning the whole thing, thought, _I've done well._

 **Sorry for the filler and not an actual chapter with most of the main events and stuff, but I just wanted to introduce the parody of Erza and Gray's background, as they just seemed to be... there. I stopped having a normal schedule with writing, and decided to do it just every night until I've gotten bored or cornered with no ideas. I will be publishing randomly from now on.**

 **Unrelated note: I just finished a series that I absolutely loved, and am currently reading the manga, it is called _Gakkou Gurashi_! or, _School-Live!_ great, and one of my first horror anime. Highly recommend**

 **See you next time with the wedding, my dear readers! ^.^**


	14. Chapter 14

**~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence : May 28th- Sunday :|~**

"Lucy..." I whispered to my housemate. "Time to get up."

She stirred in her sleep, but she still did not wake.

"Lucy," I whispered a little louder. "I made omelet rice with strawberries."

She turned over in her pink bed, now facing the wall.

I walked over to the side of the bed and shook her shoulder.

"Get up, Luce! I know it's Sunday, but it's _two days_ until the wedding, so you need to help Mira prepare. Get up!"

Lucy bolted up into a sitting position. "Say... what now?" She asked with clear surprise.

"Two days until the wedding," I answered with calm.

"Omigod!" She exclaimed, and shot out of bed to run to the closet.

She was only wearing a t-shirt and panties, so naturally, I would be blushing, and naturally, she would yell at me and throw me out of her room.

I sat at her door, crossing my arms in displeasure. I grunted and saw Happy slowly walking towards me.

"Happy... here~ boy..." I coaxed.

The blue cat tilted his head.

"'Ere, buddy," I continued to persuade.

Happy started purring, and walked toward me, and put his nose up to my fingers.

I started to pet the cat, and that is when Lucy opened the door behind me, making me fall back onto her feet.

"Oh, hi Luce!" I cheerily greeted. "Wearing violet today, huh?" I asked, half-unconsciously, looking up her skirt.

Lucy immediately blushed, took a step back, and kicked me on the head.

"Okay, you pervert, let's be on our way now."

I got up and looked at Lucy. She was wearing a pink tank top with black lace and black skirt. Yes, I unconsciously took note.

"I have to go and help with Mira's wedding," she said, grabbing her bag before she stepped out of her room.

"What are you going to help with?" I asked while Happy purred and rubbed against my leg.

"Eh, the usual, decorations, double-checking the arrangements, stuff like that- Hey, what's that delicious smell?" she asked with a curious look.

"Oh, yeah, I tried making omelet rice, and I think I did it right. Come on down, I have some on the table."

 **.**

"Sooo... how's the wedding preparation situation going?" I asked, while at the table, eating.

"I don't really know, but I do know Lisanna's having a little more of a difficult time preparing it, along side Bixlow... the best man. They are working it out, and we bridesmaids just need to help out with the decorating, food preparation, etc."

"What's the wedding theme? Like, is it traditional..."

"It's modern," Lucy answered, then took a bite of omelet rice and a strawberry. "Apparently Mira-chan has always wanted a western-styled wedding. Me and Levy researched plenty of it, so we're okay with helping."

She finished off her omelet rice, then rushed out of the dining room.

I poked my head out into the hall. "Oi, Luce! You okay?"

"I need to get my bag!" Yelled Lucy. Her running up the stairs made me unsettled.

 _What should I do after she leaves?_ I thought.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Mongolia Cathedral :|~**

"The floral shipments are here!" Announced Levy, poking her blue head into the church.

"Perfect timing..." Sighed Lisanna. "Hey, Luc- Levy, can you help me out with them?"

Lisanna walked past me, and gave me a glared look.

I stood there and watched Levy and Lisanna disappear outside. I turned to Kinana and Bixlow, who were writing on clipboards and unpacking boxes.

"Is there anything wrong with me? Lisanna seems to hate me," I asked bashfully.

Kinana turned toward me with kind eyes and said, "There's nothing wrong with you, dear, you're a delightful person. But, Lisanna believes you stole her boyfriend she was quite attached to. Apparently it was from message someone sent her. "

"Yeah," Bixlow agreed. "There is nothing wrong with you, just Lisanna is a little stubborn sometimes, and with the stress of taking care of most of the things as a bridesmaid, it's an add-on."

I half-smiled dishonestly. "Yeah." I knew that they were right, but I also knew that Lisanna wasn't going to forgive me any time soon.

"Alright!" exclaimed Lisanna, with a large box of flowers in her arms. "We need to vase these! Kinana and Lucy, please fill some vases with water. Levy, take out these flower arrangements and trim the ends. Bixlow, can you be a dear and check in with the caterer? Then give an update to Mira about how the things are going."

Bixlow licked his teeth (Like he always does, for some reason) and saluted, then pulled out his phone and started to work.

Me and Kinana went of to fill vases with water and Lisanna went to help Levy.

 **~|Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

"Eh? So that was the end of _Zankyou no Terror_?" I asked myself, staring at my computer. I just finished a 11 episode thriller, and was rather surprised at the depressing ending.

I kicked back on my spinny-chair and puffed out my lips.

"Pfffft... what should I do?"

I spun around a couple times until I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

"Brother? I have returned," I heard Zeref say.

 _Oh_ , My only panicked thought was, _So he gets back 'today'..._

I swung open my door to see Zeref's baby face smiling.

"I entered to upstairs restroom today," Zeref calmly said. "And I discovered toiletries and makeup. Is there a woman living here?"

My face turned red. "Oh... yeah, uh..."

"My little brother Natsu! I never thought this day would come! You have become a man and is letting a woman stay!" Exclaimed Zeref excitedly.

My face burned more. "No, no, no! Lucy is just-"

"Ahhh, the Heartfillia-san... I never knew buxom women were your type," commented Zeref, looking up as if to picture Lucy.

I face-palmed. "Let me explain! Lucy had no place to stay, and as her friend-" Then I stopped. 'Friend?' Am I her friend? I mean, we do live together, get along quite well, and share secrets with each other. I stopped to ponder this for a moment, now not acknowledging my strange brother in the doorway.

"Natsu~~?" Zeref asked in a sing-song voice.

"Oh! I'm the founder! As a fellow club member," I happily announced to myself, and unknowingly embarrassing myself near my brother.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Mongolia Cathedral :|~**

I silently held vases out to Kinana as she filled them with water, then delivered them to Lisanna. I continued doing this until Bixlow called me over to unpack boxes of bright yellow lace.

I opened them and the golden glow struck my eyes. "Woah..." the word mercilessly slipped out as I beheld the strange lace ribbons.

"I know," commented Bixlow, rubbing his strange purple eyes. "I'll hang these ribbons up near the altar and you decorate the benches with them."

He handed me some push pins and half the golden lace ribbon.

"Good luck," he said.

"You too," I responded for some reason. _There's no use in wishing good luck to the other... but okay_ , I thought..

I started to hang the ribbon on the pews until I felt a vibration in my skirt pocket.

I checked my messages and they were all from Natsu.

 _15:20 - Natsu Luce! Zeref got back today and I'm really in trouble!_

 _15:20 - Natsu Why'd you have to leave your tampons and stupid girly stuff so out in the open in the bathroom?_

 _15:21 - Natsu Now he thinks we're a couple! HELP ME!_

 _15:21- Natsu He keeps on giving me strange advice on how to be a man, and how to manage women..._

I face palmed. I typed furiously on my phone,

 _15:22 - Lucy Just kick him out of the room!_

He immediately replied back,

 _15:22 - Natsu DON'T YOU THINK I HAVEN'T FREAKING TRIED THAT YET? NOW HE'S GOING INTO THE INEXCUSABLE PART ABOUT STUFF! HELP! I'M OF AGE BUT IT SOUNDS REALLY WEIRD AND UNNEEDED!_

 _15:22 - Lucy Just wait until I get home to deal with your weird brother_

 _15:23 - Natsu But Luuuuuuucyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy -dies-_

I heard a crashing and Lisanna shouted, "Lucy! Kinana! I need your help with Bixlow over here!"

"Coming!" I answered, and turned my phone off.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Fullbuster Residence : 15:30 :|~**

"GRAAAAY!" I yelled at the door I was banging on. "You have a visitor!"

A grumpy, black-haired teenager swung open the door, looking quite disheveled.

"WHAT, HOT-HEAD?" Gray yelled back. "I _JUST_ WOKE UP! HAVE SOME RESPECT, WILL 'YA?"

I tilted my head. "You just woke up? It's like... 16:00."

"So? I fell asleep at like, 1:00 last night," grumbled Gray, ruffling his hair.

"What the- how much do you sleep, dude?"

"As much as a normal person." He looking into space for a moment. "Right?"

"Okay, okay, let's go see a movie. I'm bored, and Zeref gave me the most awkward talk of my life. C'mon, I heard rumors about this one film," I grabbed his arm and pulled him outside. "Let's go!"

Gray stepped back into the house. "No." Then slammed it back in my face.

I sighed. "That was my last resort besides studying..."

I thought for a moment.

"Or!"

I slammed my fist on my other hand.

 **.**

"Lucy!" I called to Lucy inside the Cathedral.

Suddenly my eyes met with the last person I wanted to see.

Lisanna stood near the doorway with a vase of flowers in her hands.

She immediately looked down and said, softly, "Oh, hi Natsu. L-Lucy's over in the front with Levy and Bixlow."

She walked passed me outside and placed the vase outside.

I decided to walk past her.

My eye caught a blonde on a ladder, hanging what looked like golden cloth.

"Hi Levy! Hi Luce! Bixlow, I haven't seen you in a while," I greeted my friends.

Bixlow held his hand up high in greeting. "Heeey!"

Levy waved and smiled while she held the ladder steady.

Lucy just said, "Hi Natsu."

 **~| Lucy's POV : Three Days Later : Tuesday :|~**

"Mira!" "Mira-chan!" All of us, Levy, Kinana, Lisanna, and of course, me, attempted to wake the bride to help her get ready for the wedding, but unfortunately, Mira was one hell of a heavy sleeper. Add the stress of the wedding, and you got an all-out exhausted bride.

"It's your wedding day," coaxed Kinana.

Mira groaned and turned over, avoiding us.

"You get to marry Laxus-kun," joined in Lisanna.

Mira turned over to face her sister. "Is it Monday?"

"Yes, and your last morning as an unmarried maiden," pointed out Levy.

"Just think, after sunset, you will be spending the rest of your life with the love of your life," I dreamily joined in.

"It seems wonderful," sighed Lisanna. "I wish I had that. I would, if-" she stopped when Mira grabbed her wrist.

"Lisanna," she said softly, with a glare.

"Right! _Now_ you're up!" Lisanna announced forced-cheerily. "Time to get ready..." she fumbled around with her fingers nervously.

"Lisanna, do you have something to say?" I asked, breaking the half-minute silence.

Lisanna looked at me with hurt eyes. "Lucy, can I see you, down stairs?" then she waltzed outside of the room.

I followed her, but Levy stopped me for a second.

"Don't say anything to set her off, m'kay Lu-chan?"

I nodded with a smile.

 _Levy always seems to have my back_ , I thought happily.

I caught up with Lisanna, who decided to talk in her downstairs kitchen.

She sat down at the table and pat for me to sit next to her.

As I sat down, she explained, "Lucy, I'm sorry I have been acting so rude to you, but I've been really distressed lately. You know, about my break up with Natsu not to long ago."

"Right..." I shifted uncomfortably. _Is she mad at me? I've been getting_ sorta _chummy with Natsu_... I thought.

Lisanna saw through my discomfort. "Don't worry, I'm not upset with you," she pointed out. "It has been a lie that has been nipping at me. A person named Hibiki gossiped about you to me. He's friends with Natsu."

"Hibiki? Hibiki is a given name to my ex-boss. I used to work for him at a café," I said in surprise.

Lisanna didn't seem to care much. "Oh. Well, anyway, he knows a lot about Natsu and he warned me about him may crushing on some other girl."

She dropped a hint and stayed silent for me to answer.

"Umm... You think it's me?"

She nodded. "I know I don't know you so well, but I can't help but dislike you slightly."

"Why would Hibiki think Natsu would like me?" I asked, still in surprise.

"He said Natsu had been acting a bit differently since your appearance. He said that he's been dazing and acting happier. Come to think of it... Natsu hasn't put so much in his way to get a denier of the club to join."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes brimming with realization.

"We've gotten a lot of people walking in on our club time, and insulting us. Mostly all that Natsu would do is ignore it, but you were an exception," explained Lisanna.

I put both my hands up in denial. "No... I admitted I liked anime... and Natsu isn't really the type to give up, so... Plus, how could he have caught feelings from me if all I've done was insult from the doorway?"

Lisanna smiled and shook her head. "Beats me. If you believe in soul mates then things could make more sense in your head."

My mind flashed back to any possibility that Natsu would have feelings for me. Commenting on my crappy novel so much, saving me from that creepy assaulter, offering me a place to stay- "Oh my Lord!" Escaped my mouth. "There is a possibility that... that-"

"Take good care of him," chuckled Lisanna while she pat my head.

She went off to Mira, leaving me in a flustered shock.

 **Meanwhile:**

 **~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

"What?" I asked. "You want me to be in the wedding?"

 _"Please? It's my fault that I accidentally miscounted and forgot the groomsmen. Laxus doesn't know anybody well enough besides you, me, Fried, and Gray,"_ explained Bixlow over my cellphone. " _Wait... GRAY! Shit! I forgot him, too..."_

"I haven't been to the rehearsal dinner..." I still protested.

 _"We didn't have a rehearsal dinner. If you don't accept I have to have someone like Loke come, and you know how annoying he can be,"_ begged Bixlow. " _And please hurry up with an answer, I need to ask Gray. All you have to do is walk down the aisle with a bridesmaid and stand there for a little... Please? Laxus'll kill me if I don't get two more groomsmen."_

"Alright! Alright! Geez, I'll accept," I sighed.

Bixlow sighed with relief over the phone. " _Oh God... Thank you so much, Natsu!"_

"Right... I'll see you soon, bud. Don't forget to call Gray," I said.

 _"SHIT!"_ Bixlow hung up.

 _So..._ I thought, _I got to find a tux with a yellow tie now... right?_

 **.**

"Yo! Lucy!" I greeted Lucy.

She was standing behind the Cathedral with everybody else, Gray, Levy, etc. but one thing, and one thing only, bugged me. Everyone was wearing casual clothes when only I was wearing a black suit with a yellow tie.

Lucy crossed her arms and said, "Did they give you your outfit early?"

"Or is your casual attire this obnoxious?" Gray joined in bluntly.

"Huh? Aren't we supposed to wear the suits and dresses and stuff?" I asked, turning pale. "Or is this wedding not serious?"

Lucy laughed. "No, Natsu. I guess Bixlow-san forgot to tell you that they already purchased the right outfit and are going to give them to us, soon."

"After, we're supposed to change in the back," explained Levy.

"Oh..."

Just as if on cue, Lisanna came out the back door of the church, holding large plastic bags on hangers. I guessed they were the outfits.

"I got the dresses," quietly squealed Lisanna. I noticed she was wearing one right now. It was knee-length and light pink, with a yellow rose at the shoulder.

She started to pass the outfits out, then she stopped at me. She observed me. "Well, it seems like you're all set..."

Everyone laughed. I awkwardly took the suit, chuckling along with them, then she continued to pass them all out.

After we all got dressed, we went out of the dressing room into the chapel, which was decorated in its best.

Metallic-yellow lace hung from the benches, the flowers were beautifully shining from the light of chandelier in glass vases, surrounding every corner of the room. The light pink aisle was lined with candles that were yet to be lit.

"Oh, Lisanna!" Kinana exclaimed. "It's so lovely!"

"It seems you finished it up yesterday, huh?" said Lucy, grinning.

"Yeah," answered Lisanna with a proud face. "I set up the aisle, the candles, and put glitter on the flowers, stuff like that."

"Woaaaah," I idiotically stared at the beauty of the room. "You guys really outdone yourselves..."

"Thanks," answered Bixlow, who just exited the dressing room, wearing a yellow suit with a black tie and slacks. _Best man's suit_ , I thought.

"Now quit dawdling around, we got to pair you guys up for the ceremony."

Lisanna and Bixlow stared at us all after they put us all in a line on the chapel.

Lisanna took Levy's hand and put her on the aisle and Bixlow shoved Gray to her side.

"Now link arms," directed Lisanna.

Levy and Gray did so, and Lisanna and Bixlow grinned.

"Levy's petiteness and Gray's muscular, tall look and their hair colors match perfectly!" Lisanna ranted.

"Juvia isn't gonna be so happy about this, is she?" Nervously chuckled Levy.

Gray suddenly looked afraid.

We all look towards the door after it swung open and a tall, slim man with long green hair ran towards us.

"Sorry I'm late!" Panted Fried. "I got held up..."

"No problem," said Lisanna, shoving a suit towards him. "Now go get dressed. In the mean time..." she studied me and Lucy together.

"Link arms, you guys, and walk down the aisle," commanded Bixlow.

I looked at Lucy, who wasn't looking too good. Her face was pale and she was starting to sweat.

"Luce? You okay?" I asked her.

Her face regained a red color and whipped her head towards me. "Yeah!"

She linked her arm with me without any more hesitation.

We walked to the back of the church and back, and Lisanna decided to wait for Fried. I felt shame wave over me.

"You guys look fine together!" exclaimed Bixlow.

Lucy quickly let go of my arm.

 _So that's the end of that,_ I thought.

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

 _Greaat~~_ I thought. _Now I have to be paired up with the kid that may just have a crush on me._

Fried exited the dressing room, and I have to say, he did not look bad in a tux.

Lisanna immediately grabbed his arm and shoved him near Kinana.

"Yeah, the long green hair and the short purple looks amazing! You two are the perfect height as well!"

"Lisanna, hon, don't get too excited," Kinana said, laughingly. "I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lisanna sighed, while writing on a clipboard for the wedding. "By the way Fried, don't get carried away with the dance or Erik'll beat you to a pulp."

Fried immediately let go of Kinana's arm and looked subtly frightened.

"Wait, are there, by any chance, arranged dances?" I asked.

"Oh! Totally forgot!" Lisanna looked up from her clipboard. "Yeah, there is. You'll be dancing with Natsu, Levy with Gray, etc. You'll be allowed to switch off with anybody, but for the first dance when Mira-oneechan dances with Laxus, you need to dance with the arranged partners until the rest of the guests staying for the reception join in."

 _How could this day be this difficult?_

 **.**

I was probably hyperventilating. I was probably pacing. I don't know... it was kind of fuzzy. Everyone was in a panic. Mira hasn't shown up yet and the wedding was supposed to start five minutes ago. Meanwhile, Levy was reassuring everyone in the wedding while Lisanna was talking to Mira in the dressing room.

"Of course the bride would be late," said Levy to everyone in the back room. "A lot of weddings start late. It's not that rare, and it's only been," she checked the clock. "Seven minutes. Lisanna texted me that she was talking to Mira. It's taking a while, but Mira's stressed. Anyway, we should make the best of this. You guys can practice speeches or dancing."

No one said anything for a good half-minute.

Levy sighed and took Gray by the hand. After struggling to get up from his relaxed position and to get his jacket back on, Levy practiced dancing with Gray, despite him stepping on her toes so much.

Laxus took out a piece of paper and started reading it over and over. Since he wasn't speaking aloud, all I could do was guess it was his speech. Kinana practiced the moves by herself, and Natsu offered a hand to me.

We all practiced our dancing and speeches until finally Lisanna opened the door, knocking over Kinana who was practicing by it.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie!" Cried Lisanna while she helped Kinana up. "Anyway, Mira's ready, and Laxus and Bixlow are in a separate room, and already know we're about to start. We've all practiced the ceremony before, so you know what to do."

Everyone gathered at the end of the aisle while Elfman, Mira's brother who will give her away, went into the dressing room with Mira.

We did it as we practiced, and we went up to the chapel in the refined and rhythmic, arm in arm with our partners. First, there was the flower girl, Asuka, then Bixlow and Lisanna, then Gray and Levy, me and Natsu, and Fried and Kinana. I noticed that the reverend was none other than Evergreen, Laxus's only woman in his small gang he hung out with. She was dressed in a modest and long black dress and her bushy hair was put up into a bun. Finally, Elfman and Mira, in a beautiful bejeweled lacy white gown. Her makeup was flawless, and her white hair with a tint of pink pulled back into a Dutch braid and covered in flowers and a long white veil.

Elfman hugged Mira and let her go up to the chapel to get married.

I could see the tears in his eyes while he bravely watched Mira walk up the stairs of the chapel's altar and Elfman sat down into his seat beside the Mayor of Mongolia, Dreyar Makrov, whom I later found out was Laxus's grandfather. He was crying shamelessly as well as Elfman.

The look of Laxus staring at Mira was both adorable and funny. His cheeks were tinged with pink and his eyes said, _This beautiful woman will be my wife in five minutes..._

Me and Levy glanced at each other, both telepathically exchanging comments on Laxus's face.

Finally, Evergreen went on with the ceremony and the two were married.

A huge celebration broke out and we ate rich foods along with Erza's favorite, strawberry cheesecake. Of course, nothing was more delicious than the wedding cake. Cana kept on trying to get liquor into me, but of course, I declined more and more. The Mayor, strangely enough, tried his best to get some into me as well, despite him actually making the age limit.

Finally, it was the dance.

Mira and Laxus had their first dance as husband and wife, and while no matter how much Juvia begged Levy, Levy took Gray onto the dance floor as they were assigned. Kinana and Fried went on the dance floor without hesitation, along with Bixlow and Lisanna. Natsu once again offered a hand, but I hesitated.

"Come on, Luce," said Natsu with a rather bored face. "Lisanna would kill us if we don't listen to what she says."

I decided, in the end, to dance with him. I avoided eye contact and the strangle feeling I got whenever I touched him grew a little more unwontedly comforting.

"Lucy," Natsu said, his facing getting a little closer. "Why are you avoiding me?"

I sighed. "Natsu, that's ridiculous-"

"No, seriously, why have you been ignoring every word I say, and hesitating to dance with me?" Natsu stared unblinkingly at me.

I glared back at him. "That's a secret."

Natsu narrowed his eyebrows and continued to dance with me in a robotic manner while still staring at me.

Suddenly, his face softened and stopped the dance, causing me to stumble.

"Natsu?"

Natsu covered his face and looked away.

"One second," he mumbled while he headed towards the catering table.

After standing awkwardly on the dance floor for a long fifteen seconds, I shamefully sat down on the bench to watch pairs on the dance floor dance gracefully.

I watched a blushing Gajeel and a very happy Levy dance perfectly beside a nervous Gray and Juvia, matching Levy's expression.

Elfman and Mira danced, and Elfman was still crying shamelessly. A bored Evergreen plopped on my bench right beside me. She took a swig of beer in her hand and looked at me. "Temporary reverends are allowed to drink, right?"

I smiled. "You were really good, you know, with the ceremony."

"Ah, well," she replied. "Laxus practically forced me to. I had a subscription already to perform a ceremony awhile back, so I was pretty much his only option. Plus, as one of his best friends, he wanted me to be in the ceremony."

Evergreen stared at the Strauss siblings all three now dancing together in a circle.

"Mira sure does look gorgeous, doesn't she?" I said, positively.

Evergreen's face went confused, then she replied with haste, "Yeah! She does! Wow that dress... how I want to wear one one day and dance with my friends and husband, and stuff like that..." she continued a blushing mess. "Only if I could find a husband though, and I wonder if he's close by, or something... hehe.. and I just don't know it, and stuff..." she continued staring at the siblings.

I stared at her. "Evergreen-san, are you by any chance looking at Elfman?"

She, if possible got even redder. "Ehh?! No, no, no! I mean, he is as close as I got so why wouldn't I be? Hehehehe..."

"Right..." I replied, sweat dripping off my forehead.

"Anyway, anyway, Lucy-chan," Evergreen said. "You're a really pretty girl, so why are you here alone?"

I frowned. "Well, I have an assigned date, if you can call him that. Natsu, my housemate."

"Yeah, yeah, the president of the club," Evergreen completed. "Well, I saw him earlier by the napkins a flustered mess."

"Huh?" I hastily asked.

"Yeah," continued Evergreen. "His face was all red and he was sweating. He kept on muttering stuff under his breath. I'd say he possibly listened to Cana, that kid."

"He he," I laughed weakly. "Right..."

And the rest of the conversation continued in a blur while I was lost in the thought of my housemate.

 **Oooh, I hear, do we have a development between our favorite couple? Hehehe... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that, the wedding and the attempt of a detailed description of the clothing and stuff C:**

 **Anyway, we are getting close to more drama, if you'd like, so strap yourselves in because I'll most likely write more because drama is the stuff I love to write! Expect more frequent posts!**

 **By the way, I don't ship Gray and Levy, and Kinana and Fried. I did it for a couple of gags. In fact, I seriously love the idea of Levy and Gajeel, Gray with Juvia, Kinana with Erik/Cobra, etc. Just a few laughs and technical pairings for you know, bridesmaids and groomsmen.**

 **I also apologize if I got stuff wrong with the wedding! I don't know much on weddings and I tried to avoid the stuff that I don't know. I couldn't do a lot of research for my lack of internet, (Don't ask) and I can't really go rent a book on weddings at the library ten miles away from where I live. (TOO FAR FOR BIKE AND BUS SCARY...**

 **Again, sorry for the late post and long author's notes! See you guys soon!**

 **The last chapter of Fairy Tail, am I right? *Sigh**


	15. Chapter 15

**~| Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence : June 5th : Five Days TimeSkip :|~**

Lying down, I stared aimlessly at the book I was reading. A simple shoujo light novel, actually. It wasn't really interesting, but my doctor said I should read a boring book every night. Most girls, like a few in the club, would stay up all night reading something as lame as a romance light novel, but the novel was so clichéd and the characters were super unlikable. My best friend, Levy, was the only one who agreed on my hate for it.

I sighed and closed the book. I checked my phone and groaned over the time. Only 22:00 and not tired yet.

I decided to take the chance to make a snack and I got up and put on my robe.

I made my way downstairs until I heard footsteps that were not mine. I caught a glance of black hair going down the downstairs hall and I hurried down the stairs. _Maybe this is a chance to talk to Natsu's infamous brother,_ I thought.

When I made it to the first floor, I heard really strange noises that disturbed me.

I made my way into the living room attached to the kitchen and found myself staring at about twenty men surrounding a plate of peeled bananas in the living room and Zeref holding an unlit match to it. They were all doing soft chanting and peeling bananas.

Nobody looked to my shocked and confused expression except a very uncomfortable Natsu sitting on a kitchen chair in the center of the circle.

He looked toward me and relief crossed his face. " _Help me_ ," mouthed the salmon-haired teenager.

I put my hand to my forehead and said rather loudly, "Am I having a stroke?"

All the heads of the men turned towards me.

"IT'S A GIRL!" shouted one of them, next to Zeref.

"A REALLY PRETTY ONE!" pointed out the one next to Natsu.

"Zeref-sama?" Have you broken the law of having a wife?" Said the one who kind of looked like a leader. He was directly across from Zeref sitting on a black leather spinny-chair, and sitting crisscross with his hands under his chin in a locked form. His long spiked hair was tied into a high ponytail.

"Was that there before?" I asked, referring to the chair.

Natsu rapidly shook his head in panic, telling me to shut up.

"Excuse me, this is my brother's girlfriend, Heartfilia-san," Zeref introduced while the leader-guy rotated his chair towards me.

"Housemate," I corrected, and decided to make a sandwich.

"Natsu has broken the pact?" Asked the leader, spinning his chair towards Natsu.

"I was never following this religion..." Natsu softly mumbled.

"No, Mard Geer. Natsu just has her as a toy," Zeref happily stated.

Natsu choked and I stuck my head out the pantry.

"Excuse me?" I said in a high-pitched voice, face turning red. Natsu didn't look any less flustered.

"Well, Natsu, it seems you have not broken the pact. Did everyone place their hopes and dreams into the immortal fruit?"

All the men excluding Mard and Natsu grunted in conformation.

"Burn our hopes and dreams, Zeref-sama," said Mard Geer, leaning back in his chair, quite relaxed.

Zeref lit the match and dropped it into the peeled fruit. It lit on fire and by that time, they were chanting and I was escaping into the upstairs with my sandwich. Natsu apparently dismissed himself and followed me to my room.

I looked up from my sandwich to the opening door, and the boy came over and sat on my bed.

"Sorry about my brother and his followers," Natsu said, embarrassed.

"Good, I wasn't going crazy," I said, taking a bite of my peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

Natsu chuckled. "Yeah, they come over every few weeks. I forgot to tell you."

"What's up with the bananas?" I asked, curiously.

"Well," said Natsu, squinting his eyes and leaning forward as if trying to remember. "Zeref's followers believed that Zeref lived for 500 years, only eating bananas. Because of his said immortality, they decided he has the most wisdom and worshiped him and asked him questions about decisions. They decided to follow Zeref and his ways with all their hearts and give up pretty much everything, hopes and dreams, leaving loved ones, and promising to never be in a romantic relationship. One night stands are apparently okay."

I made a confused face that made Natsu chuckle.

"So, they give up all of this, leave their families, divorce their spouses, and live in _reeally_ close houses to ours, and gather every month to get rid of their temptations by putting them in the 'fruit of immortality' and burning them. They live off of only bananas and ham, Zeref's favorite meat, and water. They pretty much dedicate all of their lives to Zeref and their meetings."

"Damn," I finally commented. "It's like a sensible religion, but on drugs." I finished off my sandwich.

Natsu chuckled softly once again and we sat in silence for a little while.

"Well, it's late," said Natsu, finally getting up from a half a minute of silence.

Natsu was at the door and half way through turning the knob, I said, "Sorry, at the wedding, for avoiding you."

Natsu looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened.

"It's really a secret, and I can't tell you. Sorry for that. But I'll try not to let it get to my head," I continued.

All the boy did was smile and simply reply, "Thanks." And he left my room.

 **~|: Mongolia Academy : The Next Day :|~**

"Heartfilia-senpai!" Shouted a high schooler behind me.

I turned around and looked down the hall to the underclassman.

The girl finally caught up to me, and looked up through her short brown hair.

"Um, Heartfilia-senpai, I have a request for you, if you, or any of your friends want to take place in a school grounds play for the festival, that'd be great, because we don't have many people to act in the play, because our drama club is small, and none of us want to play the protagonists. We only have about a month and a half, but the script is pretty standard and easy to memorize," explained the girl, holding out a pile of papers of what I guessed was the script.

"Oh, thank you," I said while I looked through.

"It's a play about a girl trapped up in a castle and waits for her prince to come and rescue her, but she falls in love with the dragon instead," said the girl.

I read through while she explained the plot. The protagonist's name was Lilia Heart, with the dragon's name Haru, and the later to be discovered prince's name was Greene.

"I like this story," I commented once I was done reading the script. "I write some stuff myself, and I know a good story when I read it."

The girl's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh! Thank you so very much. I wrote it myself with a little help from my friends. Will you participate?"

"I'll see what I can do about it. What is your club room, and when can I confirm?"

"A-12, of course on the first floor, and we need to get acting in less than three days. Our club meetings are at 16:30 to 20:00. The open parts are on the back of the script and you can have anybody you know, like in your pretty popular club, come and audition for any of the parts. Thank you so much!" added the girl, and ran off waving.

I looked through the script until I got to the club room up stairs at C-3. I came in to everybody watching _Fairy Tail._

I sat down next to Levy and watched he episode with them. When it ended we did our usual run-through with recommendations with anime and manga and a slight argument about which was the best shoujo anime.

"Everybody knows is _Kaichou wa Maid-sama!_ All the guys were willing to watch it," stated Lisanna.

"I don't know, _Akagami no Shiraiyuki-hime_ was good," I timidly put in my opinion.

I apparently set off a loud chatter of different opinions and Cana ended it by shouting the truest words ever said, "EVERYBODY KNOWS IS _GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN_!" And everybody went silent

"Is it always like this?" Asked Romeo, to my right, next to Cana and Macao.

"It's different everyday," I sighed. "Anyway, Levy-chan, I was late because a high schooler asked me if I could be apart of a play," I said to my best friend on my left, showing her the script.

The parts open were a lot. The 'Annoying Queen,' the 'Weak King,' of course, Lilia Heart, Haru the Dragon, and Prince Greene. A couple of maids that had lines were going to be played by high schoolers, and one old guy who gives directions to the castle, and bushes were all played by high schoolers in the drama club.

"This is a good story. Not bad for a rookie author," commented Levy. "This seems fun to act in."

"Can you act?" I asked her. "You would be good as the princess."

Levy put on a proud face. "I would, wouldn't I? Eh, I feel like Lilia's childhood friend. I have the voice for her."

"Yeah. I can't act, so I probably wouldn't be good in this play," I said, humbly.

"Ehh? No. You, bad at acting? Let's go out into the hall and see," said Levy, very defendant to me.

In the hall, she made me recite one of the lines to a chair.

"Okay, pretend the chair is Haru, and *really* get deep into it," said Levy, giving the script to me. "Say this line."

"Okay, uh," I read the line a few times to memorize it. "'Haru, I can't just leave'... wait, this is silly," I stopped, giggling a little.

"Just try it again," encouraged Levy, watching in humor.

I took a deep breath and just burst out laughing.

"What's wrong?" Asked Levy, also laughing.

"I-I can't just recite a romance line to a chair!" I cried out, still cackling.

"Okay, fine. Just say it to me," suggested my best friend.

We tried the line over and over, still falling over in laughter from time to time.

I took a deep breath to try one more time, and I said in a glorious tone, "'Haru, I can't just leave you here, in the rocks and shambles of this castle to go off to a man I barely love!'"

Levy stared at me and shook her head. "Wait, for a moment I thought I was a guy..." she started to rub her temple.

I saw the door of C-3 open behind her.

"What's going on?" Asked Natsu, walking out the door with Gray.

Levy gasped excitedly while holding her hands above her head.

"We should _all_ audition! Omigod! Natsu could be a character and Gray could probably be Greene or someone, and... Lu-chan! Hold me before I hyperventilate!"

I ran over and squeezed the little blue girl and she finally spoke normally.

"Okay, let's all try out the parts and see who matches up the best!" She suggested.

After a little explaining and practicing, we all found out the parts they could play the best. Haru was Natsu, for having that once in a while dumb outburst of words, and Gray was Greene for his charming nature, and Levy was the childhood friend in the background, and didn't make a bad Annoying Queen. Soon Erza came and joined, and turned out to be a fantastic actress. She was really good at playing the King, and the occasional Greene.

"Gray, what time is it?" I asked, knowing the time limit for applying for the roles.

"About 18:00," he answered, checking his watch.

"Okay, we have an hour to audition. Do you guys want to try out for the school play? What to you plan on us having, Erza?"

"Like I said earlier, the high schoolers are mostly planning this one, and we were going to do a maid cafe and catering, so pretty much just cooking and wearing skimpy costumes," she explained, turning a little pink. She mumbled for emphasis, "Cake..."

"Alright, let's try out for the play!"

"Yeah!" We all cheered.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

The auditions went really well. I got the part for princess Lilia Heart, and Natsu got Haru, Gray got Greene, and Levy was backup queen and Lilia's childhood friend, Ami. Erza got the part to be the king, and one of the high schoolers took the part for the queen.

"This'll be a piece of cake!" Natsu stated after he and I got back to the house and went over the script.

"Are you sure?" I asked, tilting an eyebrow at him. "The vocabulary is rather advanced and as a main character you have a lot of lines."

"If I memorize them, it'll be fine," he said, confidently.

I accepted it and went on to the script. Natsu wasn't bad at acting at all, but his loud vocal outbursts and his lack of quality memory made him lag slightly, but eventually, he was able to do the first act fluently, after about two hours.

"Ready for a late dinner?" Asked Natsu, looking at the clock.

"Yeah, we did plenty of going over the play today, and it worked up my appetite," I commented, patting my stomach for emphasis.

Natsu was too exhausted to make dinner, so I took an instant ramen cup and went up to my room to write.

I was almost done with my chapter, when Natsu burst through my door, panting.

"Luce! I forgot!" He yelled. "You were talking to Levy, so you didn't hear, but there is a fireworks festival in town in two days. Want to come?"

I stared aimlessly at him. _Did he just ask me out?_ I thought.

"Uhhh..." I idiotically murmured as many thoughts flew through my head.

Thankfully, Natsu saved me. "Erza, Gray be there with us."

Despite the explanation, the first thing out of my mouth was a stupid: "I got to get a yukata!"

I forgot it at my old house when I moved in with Virgo. I needed to take the least amount of stuff possible so it could all fit in Virgo's small apartment, but that wasn't the issue.

Possibly I said it too quickly, probably it was unnecessary, or sounded out of context, but Natsu's face turned pink.

"Okay, well, good night," he said, awkwardly, and closed the door, leaving me an embarrassed mess.

 **~| Natsu's POV : The Next Day :|~**

The next day passed by very easily.

"I'm so excited for the fireworks festival tomorrow!" Lucy excitedly exclaimed at our usual table along with Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Levy. "And you..." Lucy sinisterly turned her head to Levy. "You are going with Gajeel! You must be excited."

Levy turned red, and looked around if Gajeel was nearby. "No! No, no, no of course not! I'm just going with him and Jet and Droy. I-it's nothing special."

"If you saaay~ so," purred Lucy, making both Wendy and Levy pinker. "You never know if Jet and Droy never show up, and you're left with only your crush. Then it gets really crowded there, you need to hold hands, and someone knocks you over to Gajeel, you trip on your sandal, and then!-" Erza stopped Lucy from ranting by covering her mouth.

"Enough, Lucy. You're burning the poor girl," she sighed.

That was indeed true, for Levy had buried her head in her arms on the table, and steam was practically coming off of her.

"Who knew Lucy watched shoujo," commented Gray, doing something on his phone.

"Oh... s-shut up," said Lucy, now embarrassed. "I was just..."

"Let me finish the story for you, Lucy," said Erza, putting her lips to Lucy's ear.

She whispered, and from the looks of it, Erza finished off the story with something unnecessary.

"H-Ho-ow would-d you imagine s-something like t-that!?" Sputtered Lucy, as embarrassed as Levy who possibly imagined what Erza said.

"Look who's burning who now," grinned Gray, still staring at his phone.

I looked over to see that he was texting someone.

"Who's that?" I asked, looking over Gray's shoulder.

"Finally Natsu said something!" Lucy sighed, turning back to normal color, but Levy was still hiding her face in her arms.

"Nobody, ass-face," said Gray, pushing me away and turned off his phone.

I looked around the tables and my eyes fell on Juvia, the girl with blue, wavy hair with a Russian hat, looking anxiously at her phone at another table.

"Were you texting that girl, Juvia?" I asked.

Gray looked immediately away and started sputtering. "W-why would you imagine something l-like that?"

"OOh, Lu-chan, Gray stole your line for reacting to dirty things," evilly pointed out Levy.

While Levy and Lucy were giggling, Erza turned pink. "Are you two sending each other impure messages?"

"What?" Shouted Gray, drawing all attention to him.

This was the first time I've seen Gray, cold, grumpy, jackass-y Gray, blush and get flustered.

Erza snatched Gray's phone from the table and entered the passcode.

"How do you know my password?" Gray demanded.

But Erza didn't hear. She quickly opened messages.

"Ha!" Suddenly exclaimed Lucy, looking over Erza's shoulder. "You have someone named "Bae" on here, and I don't see anybody named Juvia or Lockser on here."

"Fine!" Shouted Gray. He looked around, and whispered into the table. "Me... and a certain someone, have been quietly dating, for about a week."

Levy and Lucy both gasped over-dramatically and I stared Gray in the face.

"Juvia? Didn't she stalk you at one point?" I asked.

"Wipe that stupid look off your face," Gray grunted. "No, she didn't. Can she go to the festival tomorrow?" He plainly asked.

"As long as she doesn't call me and Lu-chan love rivals," said Levy. "She seems to do that a lot."

"I'll tell her that," said Gray, his face lighting up.

 **~|: Clothing Store :|~**

"Ooh! Look at this one!"

"This one's _so_ pretty!"

"I wish this was more daring..."

I watched as the girls picked out their formal wear for the fireworks festival. It was boring, but of course, seeing people happy was kind of contagious.

"Watch'cha grinning about, fire-face?" Asked Gray, plopping next to me on the bench.

"Seeing people happy is... what's the word?"

"Dumb," finished Gray grumpily.

"What about Juvia? You'd like to see her happy, right?" I asked.

"What do you know? Besides, she's not talking to anybody happily, so I'd never know."

It was true. Juvia was quietly looking through the kimonos and yukatas without sound, only smiling or grimacing in their appearances.

"Look!" Called Lucy to Levy. "This one has stars on it..."

Gray leaned forward to look at my face.

"What?" I said, pushing him away.

"Huh. Never would of though of it," commented Gray, rather vaguely with a chuckle.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm 90 percent you're wrong, since you're such a doofus," I said, adding insults.

"Nah, this doesn't have to do with anything you'd think. I think you have a little crush on Lucy," said Gray, suddenly such a " _love_ _expert_ ".

My face warmed. A thought sprang in my mind. "Well, you know, who wouldn't? She's pretty.. and stuff, but she's weird."

Gray's face twisted into different emotions. "You don't deny it?!"

"Wha-at?" I garbled rather loudly. "I never said I am in love her or anything!"

"But! BUT-," yelled Gray, but he never finished.

"Shut your filthy mouths," a certain red-head commanded, punching us both on the heads. "You're causing a scene."

I looked around the shop. Both Levy and Lucy were staring at us with confused faces, and random customers were as well.

"Who are you in love with?" Asked Levy, coming over.

"Ummm...-"

"An anime character!" Broke in Gray, saving my ass. "He likes an anime character!"

"Who?" Asked Lucy, quite curious.

"Uhhh... Akiko? From Fairy Tail," I murmured.

Me and Gray were both shiny with sweat, but the girls shrugged it off, and went to the dressing room, all except Juvia, who came up to Gray.

"Is Lucy-san no longer a love rival?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"I heard you talking about Lucy-san, and the personality traits of Akiko and Lucy quite are the same," she answered.

"No, no no! Lucy is _sooo_ much weirder than Akiko!" I protested.

"Isn't Akiko your fictional crush?" Gray asked.

"No!" My face burned.

"Oh my goodness!" Sighed Juvia. "I never knew a person like Natsu-san could be in love."

"Huh?"

"You're an idiot, fire-ass. That's what Juvia's trying to say," grunted Gray.

Me and Gray shouted for a few moments until the dressing curtains swung open.

Erza was wearing a light purple kimono with small blue flowers as a pattern. Levy was wearing an orange-ish yellow-ish floral yukata with a black and golden sash.

Lucy caught my eye with a light green yukata and pink cherry blossom pattern. She apparently decided to put her blonde hair into pigtails in the changing room.

"Juvia must change now," whispered Juvia to us.

"I don't know, Erza, maybe this one's not for me," Levy said, sighing at the yukata a little big for her.

"You look great, Levy-chan," said Lucy, tightening her sash for her. "Me on the other hand, it's a little tight."

"Lucy, I don't think we're going to find one with a bust bigger than that one," Erza sighed.

"We can get her a minimizer bra," suggested Levy.

My face was burning and Gray sat the other way to ignore the girls.

"I'm allergic to some mixed materials," sighed Lucy.

"Oh, and the *thing*..." Levy added, glancing at me and Gray over at the bench.

Levy whispered something to Erza and Erza nodded. "Yes, I see. I am close to Lucy's size and in the past I have considered internationally-"

"Can we stop talking about this?!" Interrupted Lucy, beet-red.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Fireworks Festival : Hills Near Dorm :|~**

I sighed, still staring at my phone.

"When are the boys getting here? I want to do a few things before the fireworks start," groaned Levy, who arrived along with me since Gajeel got a fever.

Erza scratched her head while angrily texting on her phone. "Gray's not replying, but Natsu texted 'spfoon,' whatever that means."

"Huh?" Said Levy looking at Erza's phone. "Ah, seems you're right."

I tucked up my done hair behind my ear and straightened my yukata.

"I should've worn wrapping..." I mumbled.

Unfortunately small Levy heard me. "Huh?"

And that's when we heard Natsu's voice right behind us.

"Man, you guys sure are impatient," he said.

I twirled around to see Natsu three feet from me. He was wearing a black kimono and an orange sash with a white scaled scarf tied around his neck.

"I see you've came prepared. Never knew you were the type to wear formal wear," I commented.

Natsu grinned while my eyes fell on Gray, wearing a blue one with a pattern that reminded me of magic circles from *Fairy Tail.*

"Gray-sama! There you are, I have been looking for you and the group!" All of our jaws dropped at the sight of Juvia.

She looked absolutely beautiful, with her flowing blue hair in a messy bun with a ornament pulling back her bangs to her right. Her yukata had a gorgeous pattern of water, with light blue waves and sun rays reflecting off of the water. She held a oil-paper umbrella with the color that matched her flawless eyeshadow, a shiny green-ish blue.

"Woah..." Levy gawked, while I shot my eyes back to Gray, who was staring.

I came up to Gray and ruffled his hair. "Alright softy, quit gawking, and let's get going."

Juvia shot me a look and I immediately recoiled my hand off Gray's head.

"Alright," she giggled, innocently. "Let us get going, I wanted to try the goldfish."

 **.**

"Wow, look at that fish!" Levy pointed at a gorgeous white and pearly fish in the pool.

"Wow! Some of these are really unique to be in just a goldfish stand," I commented.

The stand manager shot us a look and I put my hands up.

We left (and apologized) after catching a few fish. Natsu and Levy didn't get any, but Juvia seemed to be a master. She caught her and Gray a fish and some others, but let them go. I only got one, but the manager was surprised just enough to like me slightly.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast, so can we get some food?" Erza asked Gray.

"Why am I the leader?" Gray questioned. "Whoever's hungry and has money, be my guest."

"Awright, Erza! It's me and you and the cool pick outa this group!" Said Natsu, grinning.

"I'll go! Levy?" I asked, turning to my friend.

"No, I'm good. My parents gave me quite the dinner, and I need to get to the bathroom," explained Levy, briefly taking my hand. "See yah!" Then went off to the nearest restroom.

"I will stay with Gray-sama," insisted Juvia, clinging to Gray's arm.

"I don't have any money," said Gray, turning his pockets of his kimono inside out.

Natsu threw his arm across my arms and did the same to Erza. "I guess it's the bunch of us!"

"What should we eat?" I asked, separating from the rest of the group.

"I haven't had yakisoba in a while," suggested Erza.

"Eh, I'm feeling more for spicy food today," sighed Natsu.

"How about we get different food and meet up," I looked around, until my eyes fell on an bench to my far right. "There! Natsu can get his food and Erza, you get me a yakisoba as well, and I'll hold the spots."

"Sounds like a plan!" Said Erza.

"Meet you there," waved Natsu, separating from us to the left.

I ran away from Erza to the bench to sit down.

I checked my phone for the time, and I noticed that the fireworks were going to start soon.

I looked around and said softly to myself, "It's really starting to get crowded."

I sighed for a few seconds in silence, until: "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

The familiar voice sent chills down my spine and memories stomped on my heart. It made me put down my phone on the bench and swing my head to the left.

"L-Loki?" I exclaimed, seeing my ex-boyfriend.

He was wearing his normal outfit along with his sunglasses.

"Yeah, what's up Lucy? You look beautiful in your getup," Loki said, smiling like there was barely any history between us.

"Heh, yeah... thanks. Are you here with family?" I asked.

"Actually, I'm not here with anyone. I came to pick up chicks," he said as casually as ever. "In their yukatas, and date clothes, I find them very attractive, and I can come up with some way to make them slither into my clutches like always."

Of course I was disgusted, but I swallowed down my comments and forced a laugh. "You seemed to not have changed."

"You seem that way as well. As awkward and uncomfortable as always," Loki commented.

I coughed. "Thanks."

"Why do you seem to be surprised to see me?" Asked Loki, sitting closely to me. His familiar scent made me even more uncomfortable. "We see each other practically everyday at the club."

"Yeah, but never long eye contact, or we never speak to each other," I explained.

"It's been, what, a month and a half? Get over it. You know how long it takes to end a meaningless relationship for me? About an hour."

 _Yeah, I guess that's because you're a junior womanizer_ , I thought, but I forced another laugh.

"Yeah, but you know, you were my first boyfriend, so I'm still hardly over it."

Loki sighed and got up. "You know, you should go after someone you like, and forget me."

And he left.

It took a while to process what I felt right now, but words fell into my brain.

 _Who do I like?_

"Oi, Luce! Sorry I'm late," A voice came from above me.

 _Above me_... I had my head down in my knees, and I immediately looked up to Natsu's face.

"You okay?" He asked, tilting his head to the right. I saw he was carrying a cup of spicy chicken nuggets.

I forced yet another laugh and scratched my head. "He.. yeah, I'm okay. I, uh, ran into Loki... Can I have one of those spicy chicken?"

"What? Sure, but, you ran into Loki?" He questioned, and held out the large cup.

I ate the small piece of spicy chicken. I sighed, "This isn't spicy enough..."

Just then, Erza interrupted with a crazy story about an old women at the yakisoba stand and the sauce exploding at both of their faces.

My mind blocked out most of the story, and I cleaned the sauce out of Erza's bright red hair, and my mind was somewhere else.

 _What do I do next? I'm seventeen, in college early, and my love life is nowhere_ , I noticed that my eighteenth birthday was very soon.

I ate my yakisoba in silence with Natsu and Erza until we heard a small, high voice coming towards us.

"Lu-chan! Erza and Natsu! The fireworks are going to start in like, seven minutes or something! Gray and Juvia saved us a spot near the river. Come on!"

The next move was unexpected. Natsu grabbed my hand and hoisted me up off the bench, but he kept holding it.

I guess he noticed my discomfort with the gesture, so he grabbed Erza's hand with his right. He turned his head and whispered, "Grab Levy's hand, so we don't get separated."

I offered Levy my hand, and we all weaved through the crowd towards the lake. The weird feeling through my hand and Natsu's grew a bit more comfortable over the days, and I've learned to fight down the thoughts in my head and just hold his hand.

Levy glanced over at my face.

"What?" I asked, pulling my head back from her stare.

"Can a friend just look at a friend's face once and a while?" Giggled Levy. Obviously that was not the reason.

I sighed, and continued walking, until we reached a grassy hill with a river separating us from the rest of the stone bricked town of Magnolia.

Levy sighed and plopped down on the sheet next to Juvia snuggling against Gray.

"Took you guys long enough," grunted Gray.

Natsu let go of Erza's hand before letting go of mine, but before he did, a quick thought crossed through my mind without me denying it. _Can't he just keep holding it?_ And he let it swing back to my side.

I sat down on the carpet, which was difficult in a yukata, and started feeling a little depressed. To ease my pain, I moved my hand to my yukata pocket, and attempted to grab my phone, but my hand grabbed empty fabric.

"My phone..." I muttered, a little panicked. I checked my other pocket, and felt around my yukata, but I couldn't feel it at all. I definitely brought it, and my mind flashed back to when I last used it.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed. "I left my phone at the bench!"

"But the fireworks are going to start soon," pointed out Levy, checking her own phone. "In about five minutes."

"It's really crowded! What if someone steals it? I have _everything_ on there! My contacts, my pictures of my dad, my notes with addresses, numbers, and reminders, downloaded manga, and a diary, and a whole hell of ID giveaway!" I ranted. I continued to freak out until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

It turned me around and put another hand on my other shoulder. My face was close to Natsu's and I could feel myself warm up.

"Lucy, I'll get your phone, just stop talking," he said, obviously annoyed at my outburst.

He let go of my shoulders and grabbed my hand in a rush.

We dodged the people in the crowd once again, and I saw that Natsu was struggling to retrace his steps. His hand squeezed mine while he glanced to the right to see a birch wooden bench and a teenage boy pick up a phone laying on it.

We hurried and I saw that the boy was none other that Loki. Again.

"Loki?" Escaped my mouth while we reached him.

"Oh, hello Lucy. Natsu as well," he said casually.

"Loki?" Echoed Natsu. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't want to repeat myself," he replied rather smugly. "I already told beloved Lucy, here, and I'll tire myself. Is this your phone?" He smirked, holding up my pink smartphone. "It matches your hair."

He tossed the phone to Natsu, who let go of my hand quickly to grab it with both hands.

"It's Lucy's," said Natsu, not amused.

"I see you two get along well. Natsu coming along to save the day of your lost cell phone, holding hands and whatnot," commented Loki.

My face grew warm and Natsu's face wasn't in my view. All I heard after that was just a simple, "We're not like that."

Loki shrugged and pushed his sunglasses up his face with his index and middle finger. "Well, I awfully hate to interrupt two lovebirds on a date, and I must be going. Have a good night." And he sank into the crowd.

Natsu handed me my phone silently.

"Thanks," I awkwardly said.

"Do you think we can get back in time for the fireworks?" Asked Natsu, looking at the crowded paths.

"We could watch them here," I suggested. "They're supposed to start any minu-"

And the first flare went off.

A beautiful red flare went off first, and was followed by more multicolored flares and crackers, filling the sky with color and smoke.

I glanced at Natsu, who was still staring at me, as if I was going to finish me sentence. I pointed up to the sky to catch Natsu's attention to look up, and we both stared at the noisy, lit sky.

Someone, unfortunately, bumped into my right, causing my to bump into Natsu on the left.

He caught me, luckily, but didn't look back up at the sky. Instead, we was probably, looking at the reflection in my eyes, but that didn't really convince me. His face was really close to mine, and he wasn't looking away from my eyes.

I felt my face burn, and a million thoughts raced through my head, but one stood out. _Is this it? Is he going to kiss me?_

But, he put his forehead against mine and shut his eyes.

I felt like I was going to melt in a little puddle of my own self.

The noise went down, and I suspected that the fireworks were over. Natsu finally pulled away and opened his eyes, and looked at me, confused.

"You don't seem to have a fever."

 _Huh?_

"You sorta tripped on me, and your face is red. Do you need to go home?" He asked.

 _WHAT? He thought I tripped on him? He was checking my temperature?_

I stared at him in disbelief. I held back all my sarcastic comments, and all the questions I really wanted to ask, and the only thing came out was a mutter of, "What a cliché..."

 **~So you know that thing where you read one word another way and it sticks to you for so long and when you find out it's read another way you freak out? Heehee... so it turns out I've been spelling "Magnolia" as "Mongolia" this whole time, and I apologize if there was any confusion! I don't know if I've been doing that for the whole fanfiction... and I don't want to go through the whole story and redo just the Magnolia/Mongolia whole thing... If I do the rewrite I was planning to do, then of course I'll correct it and will spell it Magnolia in the future! Again, sorry for the confusion, and see you next month!~**


	16. Chapter 16

**~| Lucy's POV : Dragneel Residence : June 8th :|~**

 _What the hell is going on?_

 _Why is this happening?_

 _And to whom?_

Of course to me, that last question had an obvious answer.

I hugged my pillow to my chest along with my knees, staring intently at a kissing scene in a manga I was reading.

I had a problem. The problem with my day is that I was starting out my day at 5:00 in the morning, reading a stupid shoujo manga, and enjoying it. The reason I was up at 5:00 was because of a dream that made me wake up in a cold sweat. The dream answered questions I was asking myself last night after I came home from the festival.

I was a flustered mess when me and Natsu came home. I ran upstairs and hyperventilated for a while, and changed out of my clothes, not feeling much better. Not knowing what was wrong with me, I looked it up on the internet. When Natsu came up to say good night, I hid in the closet.

"Why?" You may ask. According to the _ever_ -so-comforting internet, I either had a disease, or I was one of those clichéd clueless girls usually in manga, or anime, light novel, etc. who is in love. Of course I ignored and laughed at the thought of me liking Natsu, but when I went to sleep, I had the worst dream imaginable.

 _Well of course girls my age would have romantic dreams, right? And it could just be PMSing right?_ Though I had another week to cover.

Me and Natsu were kissing on the beach in my dream, and some other stuff I'd naturally forget...

I almost exploded into lava when I tried to sort it out, over and over, but only one answer came through. I like Natsu, and there's no changing that.

 _It's just a simple crush though, and it's not going to stay forever,_ I kept on reassuring myself.

Suddenly though, romance stories, cute clothing, and boys all at once became more interesting for me. It was almost like,-

" _You've become more of a girl_ ," sleepily answered Levy on the phone after I explained everything to her.

"How is that even possible?" I asked, panicked. "I've always been a girl! How would I become more of one? Even after I completed puberty, as well!"

 _"Look, Lu-chan, sweetie, it's around 5:00, I just woke up, and I'm not a love expert, so I can only offer you one answer. You have mentally grown after you discovered your feelings for Natsu."_

I choked on nothing when I heard those words coming from the phone.

 _"You can either accept it, look harder into it, or drop the theory completely, but I seriously need to get to sleep. My Professor is going to give my science class a huge test, and I need to earn more credit and up my qualification. Good night, Lu-chan, and good luck."_

And she hung up.

I put my hand to my forehead and officially answered my questions I was asking last night.

 _I like Natsu._

 _It's only natural._

 _Of course, the funny, confusing, and caring Natsu._

And with that thought in mind, I slipped myself under my covers, and fell asleep.

 **~| Natsu's POV : June 8th : 7:00 :|~**

I wandered around the house, aimlessly getting ready. I felt... *different*. I constantly looked myself in the mirror and thought of my flaws. My heart beat loudly whenever I tried to get myself to wake up Lucy, my house mate.

When I sent her a spam of messages, I guessed she would wake up. I decided I would avoid her.

I poured myself some cereal when I heard upstairs footsteps leading to another room and closing. _Lucy_ , I thought.

Another sound of footsteps came from the downstairs hall, and I saw my brother emerge into the kitchen light.

"Good morning, brother," Zeref greeted.

"Hi," I monotonously replied as I sat down to munch on my bland cereal.

"I have some news," said Zeref, sitting opposite of me. "It is the anniversary of your coming into this house."

"Oh. That time you took me here," I answered.

I remembered the past instantaneously. I worked at this restaurant as a waiter, and with my name tag as my surname, Dragneel, and Zeref said it was his own, since it wasn't a common surname. After he shown his ID, and offered me a place, I quit my job once I found out he was rich.

"It's been like, what? Three years?" I asked.

"If you were seventeen years old then, yes," said Zeref, remembering the time. "Say, brother, we have never celebrated your birthday before. Why is that?"

My mind flashed back to the time I was with my foster father, Igneel, celebrating my birthday with a cake, a present he worked hard to buy. Just me and him, though I could not remember the date. I didn't worry about that stuff when I was that age.

"I don't remember it. I didn't celebrate it since Igneel," I sighed.

I finished off my cereal to get away from Zeref, from this random conversation, but he grabbed my sleeve.

"Brother... Nat-Natsu...-san, I have to tell you some bad news," said Zeref. "I'm having a little trouble with the police at the moment, and I need to warn you, don't talk to any of my followers. Tell Heartfilia-san that as well."

Zeref let go of my sleeve and I stared at him, wondering what kind of funny business he was getting into, but I shook it off.

"It's not like I was talking to them before," and I went off to gather my stuff.

 **~| Lucy's POV : Mongolia Academy : After School :|~**

"Lucy-chan! Lucy-chan!" Cried the newly arrived Mira from her honeymoon.

She ran and hugged me in a flash. "I'm married! I'm married! I'm Mrs. Dreyer now! I'm Mrs. Dreyer now!"

"Alright, Mira, you only need to say those things once," I giggled, squeezing my older friend back.

"But look! It's so shiny~~~" she cooed, putting her left hand in my face, showing me her wedding ring.

Indeed the silver band was very shiny. In fact, I saw my own reflection in it.

Mira let me go to hug Levy, who was ten feet away from us, walking over to say "Hi."

"So, how was the honeymoon?" Asked Levy, after Mira let go from her usual bear hugs. Mira giggled, making her bangs tied up on her forehead, bounce. "It was sooo~~ romantic! Laxus is more of a softy than of what you knew before. And I met so many nice people in Florida! They were all like," then she said in English, "'Mrs. Dreyer! Congratulations on marrying such a hottie!' I don't really know what it means, but I know what 'congratulations' means! They're proud of me!"

Levy, knowing many languages, laughed out loud.

"And it was hot there!" She continued. "And the waits for food were so long, but still.."

Her words trailed off in my head when I spotted Natsu behind her, and visions from my dream took over my mind. I felt my face burning and my heart beating very quickly and loudly. Beads of sweat appeared on my forehead.

Apparently Levy saw my distress and shook me, yelling, "Lu-chan! Wake up, Lu-chan! Are you okay?"

I shook my head quickly, and immediately cooled down. "Wha-"

"You look like you're sick!" Exclaimed Mira, seating me down at the bench closest to us.

"Oh, no! I'm not, don't worry... I just, uhhh..."

I tried to search my brain for an excuse, but the least needed person right now in this situation plopped down on the bench next to me, throwing his arm over my shoulders like usual.

"Yo Luce!" Grinned Natsu.

My face turned back to the way it was before.

Levy, again, saw my distress and said immediately, "Natsu, us girls are trying to have a little girl talk right now."

"Huh?" Laughed Natsu. "What's it about? What makes a girl talk, a 'girl talk'?"

Levy looked around for something in the club for a few seconds until Gray came over. "What are we talking about?" Asked Gray.

"We're talking about how Mira-chan's honeymoon was almost ruined because of her menstrual cycle, but that was cleared up because-"

But Gray grew extremely pale and grabbed Natsu by the ear, dragging him away from the "girl talk."

"Who knew Gray was weak against stuff like that?" I commented.

"Oh, that's because of trauma. One night in the club only me, Levy, Erza, him, and the Connell's were staying in late, and Erza was having a bad week with hers. She puked near Levy and almost killed Gray. Then she made a very detailed description about how she was feeling, and asked me for a tampon in a very specific way, and Gray always thought all girl's cycles were like that," explained Mira. "It's kinda true, though..." she said, zoning out.

"Well, Lu-chan, looks like you have quite the problem on your hands with Natsu," sighed Levy. "You seem crazy about him."

"What?" Me and Mira said in very polar-opposite ways. Mine being bland, monotone, and worn, and Mira's being... well, fangirl-y.

"Omigod! You guys are sooo~ perfect for each other, but I never thought this would happen! _You_! A smart, down-to-earth, picky girl who loves her entertainment intelligent and mind blowing, when _Natsu_ is a air-headed, humorous, sweet and loyal boy who loves action-packed type of stuff you don't read! It's perfect!" Ranted Mira.

Of course she drew attention to herself, but I was sure Gray dragged Natsu far away enough that he couldn't hear, because he was nowhere in sight.

"Did something happen between Natsu and you, Lucy?" Demanded Erza, angrily hurrying toward us.

"No! No no no no!" I squealed, hiding behind Levy.

When you talked about anything that related to attraction, Erza became x10 more scary.

"Lu-chan has a crush on Natsu," explained Levy, pulling me from behind her. "She's got it bad. She woke me up at 5:00 to ask for advice."

"Why at 5:00?" Asked Mira.

Erza turned her head to me, steam practically coming off of her. "Lucy... did you have a dream?"

I did.

"Nooo!" I cried, now hiding in Mira's bust. "Nooooo!"

"Was it, by any chance, erotic?"

It was.

"NOOO!" I cried more, but Mira put her hands on my shoulders and looked at my face.

"The adorable face of a virgin in love~~" She purred.

And then I hid at Levy's feet.

"Alright! Enough of this! We need to practice for that play Lu-chan made us participate in," announced Levy. "Mira, you can be a double-up for someone if you want to hang out more."

"Of course! I want to freak out Lucy more!"

 **~|: Dragneel Residence : 8:00 :|~**

I continued reading my shoujo manga as usual, because that's what I apparently am into, but before I could pull up the page on my phone, I heard a knock on my door.

"Luce," I heard the voice of my crush peep through the door. "Dinner, if you want some."

I didn't reply, I just curled up into a little ball on top of my bed.

I waited for a few seconds until I decided that Natsu was gone, and got up to the door to join him for dinner. When I opened the door, low and behold, I saw his face outside of it.

"Huh?"

I stared at his face unintentionally for who knows how long, until Natsu lightly patted my hair and said, "What'cha staring for? Come on, dinner is downstairs."

I silently followed him downstairs until we reached the table, and Natsu stopped, causing me to lightly bump into him from behind.

I was looking down when it happened, so I didn't see we were already at the table, and Natsu turned around in surprise.

I sat down in embarrassment, and saw that Natsu made hamburger steak.

"You're quite silent today. I don't think I've even heard your voice today," said Natsu.

"Really?!" I squealed nervously, my face flushing. "Well I'm sorry you wanted to hear my voice so much!"

 _What the hell did I just say?_

Natsu's face grew pale, and looked away.

"Oh, sorry! I-I'm... just, kinda out of it today..." I stuttered.

I scratched the back of my head, making my blonde hair bounce up and down at the back of my head.

"Is something going on?" Natsu asked, worriedly.

Yeah.

"Not really," I lied.

Natsu grimaced and turned pink. "Gray told me something about girls today, and I have to ask, are you acting weird because of your-"

"NO!" I hurriedly shouted.

By that time, both me and Natsu's faces were pink.

"Look, I think I need some air..."

I got up from the table and my untouched meat to take a walk.

I forgot to take a coat, but the cool, almost-summer night air comforted me. I never actually took the time to walk around and look at Natsu's street. It was very large, with very large suburban houses. The sidewalks were clean, and the road was newly done. The streetlights gave off a romantic lighting to the neighborhood, and lit up the groomed and beautiful bushes and trees.

I sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. Suddenly, I felt a continuous vibration in my skirt pocket. I took out my phone only to hear a voice I partially despised.

" _Yo Lucy!_ " My cousin Sting's voice came out of the speaker. " _I just unpacked the last box of my new house and your old one_!"

I forced a laugh. "Oh... that's great, Sting."

 _"Yeah, so I feel really bad about that, you know, making you sign off your house like that, and I really want to make up for that! I heard your current education is restarting high school in some collage-highschool hybrid Academy for rich and nerdy kids, am I correct?_ "

"Yes and no... I'm in collage level and the school is actually supposed to be-"

" _Yeah_ , _yeah_ , _yeah_ ," he interrupted. " _Anyway, I know you adore writing. My girlfriend found some papers with some wannabe novels written on it in your used-to-be room. I have to say, they're not bad_."

"H-hey! Those are private!"

 _"I know, but I couldn't help it. Any who~~, I can totally make you a literature student in this really high-level, expensive university in the capital of Fiore, Crocus!"_

I let that sink in in silence.

" _Lucy? Couz? Are you still-_ "

"Really? You can get me into a school in Crocus?"

My body filled with happiness, but it all went away when I pictured certain people who were close with me.

"Um... I really love the offer... but I think I need to think about it. I have a lot of friends here and Crocus is pretty far away..."

 _"Oh, yeah! Sure, go ahead and think about it, I just need an answer before the first day there at the end of summer break. But you know, a lot before is always best._ "

"Okay, thanks," and I hung up.

I took a huge breath and let it sink in before I got up and continued walking.

I lifted my eyes and saw a small figure walking in the distance. I squinted my eyes when I got closer, and I saw my friend Levy, texting on her phone, walking towards my direction.

I started to sprint toward her, thinking about the university in Crocus. _She'll know what I should do._

I was about to call her name, and something caught my eye behind her.

A familiar thin, dreaded face, a shine of a sharp object, not something I liked.

 _It's the rapist..._

"LEVY!" I screamed before it happened.

Levy, jerking up to turn around only to have her right side of her chest stabbed with the knife the criminal was holding. I kept running toward her without thinking, and the guy pulled out the knife, and ran past me, stabbing my arm in the action. He was out of sight when I took in the scene.

Blood... So much blood on the ground, on my arm, staining my t-shirt, staining Levy's beautiful orange summer dress and her blue hair. I forcefully pulled out the knife stuck in my arm with the little strength I had.

I collapsed on my knees and pulled out my phone with my uninjured left arm, and quickly called the police.

"My friend..." my weak, high, shaky voice managed to speak. "My best friend... stabbed... a rapist, my a-arm... help.."

And everything went black.

 **~| Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence :|~**

I waited until a half an hour passed.

 _What did I do wrong? Why did she run off like that?_ I repeated many times in my head. _Maybe I should go after her... she's a little_ _late_.

I went to the entrance to get my shoes, and I heard a ringtone from the table.

I picked up my cellphone.

"It's Lucy," I said out loud.

I answered, and instead of hearing Lucy's high, sort of squeaky voice, I heard a low and professional-sounding tone of a woman.

" _Hello, is this Natsu_?"

"Uh, yeah."

" _Natsu-san, this is the Police Department of Magnolia. We have found a woman named Heartfilia, Lucy on the side of the road with another young woman, both stabbed and currently being driven to the nearest hospital._ "

"What?!" I exclaimed, adrenaline filling my body from my head to my toes.

" _Yes. We have called the most recently contacted number on her cellphone. How are you aquatinted with Heartfilia-san_?"

"I-I'm her friend and housemate...- but stabbed? What hospital?" I yelled into the phone. I shoved my shoes onto my feet.

"Magnolia Local Hospital in the fifth Emergency Room."

I hung up the phone. I knew exactly where it was. I ignored my vehicle, and I ran for it.

 **.**

"Natsu!" I heard Erza call.

I leaned against the hospital wall, knees and hands bleeding from tripping so much, panting like a hound.

"The police called us," explained Gray, running toward me with Mira and Erza by his side.

"Did you get hurt too?" Gasped Mira.

"No... these.. are.. from... running..." I said between breaths.

"You _ran_ here? That's irresponsible," said Erza, shaking her head.

"Who _cares_?" Half-yelled Gray. "Lucy and Levy are in the hospital! We heard they were _stabbed_!"

"Levy too?" I questioned, standing up.

Mira ran ahead to the fifth room while Erza helped me up and Gray stared in disgust.

"Lucy?" Whispered Mira, entering the room with us behind her.

I peeked in, but me and Gray immediately recoiled.

She was being treated by a nurse for her arm, and only had a bra on her top half.

Erza dragged me and Gray in, despite our and Lucy's discomfort.

"You guys! You came," she gasped, and covered the top of her chest with her left arm.

"Alright, I'm pulling the curtain. You can talk through it," said the nurse, pulling the curtain, separating us and Lucy.

"What happened?!" I yelled immediately.

"You can talk normally, you know," sighed the nurse. "It's not made of steel."

"S-sorry... that came out louder that normal..."

"I was taking a walk... and I saw Levy-chan in the distance," explained Lucy. "And the same man that assaulted me from that last time emerged from the dark as well."

"WHAT?" Me and Gray shouted at the same time.

"Assaulted?" Mira and Erza joined in.

"A crazy man attempted to rape her," I said. "Me and Gray stopped him before he could do anything funny."

"Oh! _That_ story! That's horrible!" commented Mira. "You told it once before."

"Anyway," cut in Lucy, obviously uncomfortable from that subject. "I saw a shine from his side, and I cried out to Levy-chan, which made her turn around, making him avoid the back of her neck- thank goodness," she stopped for a breath.

 _So that's what started it... the walk... I thought_ , feeling guilty.

"And pulled out the knife when it struck her side of her chest. He ran past me, stabbing me in the right arm. With my left, I called the police before I fainted from shock. They got me and Levy into the ambulance before we got harmed from blood loss and pain."

The nurse opened the curtain again, revealing Lucy in hospital clothes and a fully bandaged arm.

I sat down next to her on the left side of the hospital bed while Gray, Mira, and Erza sat on visitor chairs. The nurse checked things off a clipboard.

"That's quite a story," said Erza.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the hospital room, until I said something unintentionally out loud:

"That bastard..." I whispered angrily. "First he goes after Lucy then tries to murder Levy."

Everyone looked up at me, and I lowered my enraged eyes to try to control my temper.

"Natsu," softly spoke Lucy. "It's going to be okay. After I called, the police searched the area and when I gave them a description, they said it'll be very likely they catch him."

I felt my hand being covered by her own, and I tilted my head down.

 _It's still unforgivable..._

"Nurse," said Erza. "Can Lucy leave the room? The other victim is her best friend, and she'd love to see her."

Lucy let go of my hand and turned to the nurse. "Yes. Are you sure it's Levy? I could've been mistaken when I saw her."

"Her ID says she is named McGarden Levy, and we called her contacts who are these folks," she said, gesturing around the room. "You can leave, but you have to be escorted by your friends. You could still be dizzy from blood loss, and you hit your head on the asphalt when you fainted."

Lucy immediately attempted to stand up, possibly anxious to see Levy, but she fell back into my arms.

"You okay there, Luce?"

"Y-Yeah..." she stammered. "That was a little stupid..."

She held her forehead and chuckled softly.

I stood up and held her upright. "Can you stand alright?"

The nurse assisted in helping her walk correctly. "Hold her shoulders until the next time she sits down," she instructed me. "She can walk, but not quickly, and not for very long distances. McGarden-san is in the Emergency Room three across the hall about a 50 meters away. Lucy," she handed Lucy a card. "This is the number to your hospital room where you'll stay over a night. I recommend renting a hotel room until the stabber is caught, in which we'll contact you immediately with."

I held Lucy up while we walked toward the room where Levy was.

The small, blue-haired girl was sitting on the hospital cot, reading a book. Her shoulders were visible from wearing a tank top, and they were covered with bandages. On her left near a window, the man named Gajeel, with messy black hair and piercings sat next to Levy's two childhood friends, Jet and Droy. All three of them were arguing while Levy looked up from her reading and grinned widely.

"Lu-chan!" She cried, making her three men to halt their argument to greet us newcomers.

"Sorry I can't hug you. The nurse says I shouldn't do that until a week, much apparently to Jet and Droy's distress..."

Both the teenagers grew pink and started to argue with each other, ignoring Gajeel.

"Oh! Levy.." pouted Lucy, sitting down and holding Levy's hand. "Why were you all alone on the street?"

"Why were you?" She countered.

Lucy stared at her, mouth half open. "Uhh... taking a walk?"

Levy sighed. "My parent's car recently had broken down, and I wanted to see you and talk about this light novel," she pointed to her book she was reading. "I-I got a text, so I didn't notice the man behind me, and when I heard you crying out, I turned and got-got stabbed..." she shivered. "Scariest thing I've ever experienced..."

"Turns out," said Lucy. "The stabber is the same man who tried to rape me."

"Seriously?" Cried Levy.

"What did the man look like?" Asked Gajeel. His voice was so deep it practically shook the room.

"I fist-fought with him when we saved Lucy," said Gray. "He had this crazy clown outfit with a pointy hat, purple hair, and dark thin lipstick. He looked insane."

Gajeel's eyes grew wide and dangerous, and stood up from the bench immediately.

"Jose.." he murmured. "He's this insane teacher who was on something at me and Juvia's high school in Oak Town! He always had the obsession of taking over the Heartfilia's Konzern. I guess he's after you," he explained, pointing at Lucy.

"But why did he try to kill me? He couldn't of known about me and Lucy's relationship," piped in Levy.

"You said you and Juvia went to the same high school, right?" Asked Mira. "Levy has the same hair color and style from the back."

Levy turned to show the back of her hair, and Gray pulled up a picture of Juvia on his phone to compare.

"Why do you have a picture of her on your phone?" I asked.

"Shut up, hothead."

"He's after me? Not to mention Juvia..." whispered Lucy.

I felt really helpless at the time. Lucy having a stalker, and the horrible feeling of someone trying to kill my friends felt unacceptable.

I found myself staring at the ground, sitting limply on the chair, miserable.

"Natsu?" I heard Lucy say, worriedly.

Something sprang up in me. Rage, disappointment, misery, I don't know, but I did know that it was loud, and very worry-worthy.

"How can you people be so calm?! How are you not trying to find a solution?! Lucy has a _stalker_ and the same guy is trying to kill Juvia and probably Gajeel!"

Silence fell over the room as I stormed out needlessly out of the room.

The one who followed me was the dizzy, injured, possibly-had-a-concussion Lucy.

She stumbled into the wall right next to me and latched on to my outstretched arms, but pushed away after.

"Natsu! This is a hospital!," she half-whispered. "People are sleeping here and possibly even dying."

She attempted to cross her arms, but winced from her right, and brought her arms back to her sides.

"Look, I know you're mad, and I totally understand, but there is no reason to yell at your friends who are there for me and Levy."

My face burned with shame, but half of me agreed with my unexpected outburst.

"I'm sorry, Luce," I said, scratching the back of my head. "But you guys are taking this too well it's making me angry. Someone's out to get you, and I hate that-"

"I am well aware of that, Natsu," she glared. "It's been scaring the crap out of me, but I have trust in the police about this. Jose, or whatever his name is, hasn't gotten far from the spot Levy got attacked. Please just keep your cool and tru-"

I interrupted by something I wouldn't normally do. I put both my arms around Lucy and hugged her close. I cradled the back of her head with my right and tightened my hold around her back with my right.

"Lucy," I whispered in her ear. "You have someone out to get you, and you could get killed. I can't have that happen to you... Y-You're my best friend and I'll go crazy knowing you'd get hurt if you're not with me."

Lucy waited a bit to respond. "W-what do you want me to do?"

"Just..." I answered, pulling back and looking at her in the eye. "Stay close, don't go outside alone at night, stay aware..."

But I stopped when Lucy looked down and pursed her lips. She sighed and said, "It's late... I'll be in my hospital room."

She turned around and left the Emergency area.

I turned around to go back to Levy's room, but Gajeel stood in front of the door.

"Woman trouble?" He smirked.

My face grew warm. "No... we just had a fight. How much did you see?"

"Just after you gave her commands like a kid in her early teens and she stormed off."

"What? How did I sound?"

"Like a father giving a teen a curfew- did you not hear what I just say?" Sighed Gajeel, throwing his hands in fingerless gloves up. "Lucy's, what? Already an adult right? Almost old enough to drink, yada yada yada. You can't just order her around like that."

"Then what should I do? She has stalker on her tail."

"Protect her without saying anything stupid. I'm going back in," he said, opening the door to only leave me in exasperation to what to do next.


	17. Chapter 17

**~| Lucy's POV : Magnolia Hospital : 22:00 :|~**

I hugged my knees as a tear rolled down my face.

"Stupid Natsu," I mumbled.

My heart was throbbing uncontrollably when he hugged me, but when he let go and gave me commands, it made me want to punch a pillow.

 _Is this the real Natsu? Was he just playing nice this whole time until something broke him?_

The way he acted in Levy's room made me open my eyes to how scary this was. I had a stalker that wasn't afraid to murder a anyone. That could easily put my friends in danger, and it made Natsu turn into someone I don't like. I decided to turn to a manga on my phone to cheer me up, but I haven't looked at my phone since the stabbing. The police recovered it, but it was stained in smeared, dried blood. I scratched it off with my chipped fingernails, and turned it on. There was a message.

" _Luce, im sorry about that in the hall. gajeel talked some sense into me. anyway i called zeref and we are going to live in a hotel until they catch jose_." - Natsu, 22:06.

I sighed and turned off my phone again. I pulled the sheets over me and fluffed the pillow of the hospital cot, and slept.

 **~| The Next Day: June 9th :|~**

A alarm woke me up that morning, and a nurse forced some of my clothes into my face.

"How did you get these? These look exactly like they were from my closet," I said to the nurse, holding out the clothes in front of me.

"That's because your boyfriend brought them from his house," she answered, crossing her arms.

I sighed. Everybody seems to be teasing me and Natsu lately. "He's not my boyfriend..."

"Living in the same house? And with _those_ he packed?" She smirked, gesturing to the clothing.

Folded in the skirt on the cot, I saw he brought... of course what he'd call, ' _Pervy_ _Panties_ '. My face warmed again.

I spammed Natsu in messages for punishment.

The nurse later kicked me out of the hospital room and I met up with Natsu at the entrance. When I immediately flicked him on the head.

"Oi!" He exclaimed. "What the hell was-"

"Why did you pack those?" I yelled at him, my face beet red. "The nurse thinks you're a huge perv and that we're _dating_!"

"Settle down! I don't know what Zeref packed you, because I had the decency to not look. I just brought it here. Now stop yelling, you're making a scene."

Indeed I was. I looked around to see sick patients, parents, and the desk staff staring at me.

With a face burning brighter than ever, I pushed Natsu out the door and into his car.

I let out a huge breath in the car and turned the air conditioner on. "That was the most embarrassing thing..." I whispered, fanning the cool air onto my face.

"How's your arm?" Said Natsu.

"Ah... It really hurts..." I answered, patting my right shoulder. "I'm lucky the bone didn't break."

"When can you take the bandages off?"

"In about two weeks. It'll take that long until the wound closes completely and the stitches set in," I answered. "By the way, how's Levy-chan?"

"She needs about three more days in the hospital. She was pretty beat up," he replied, taking a right.

"Are we going home? If I remember correctly, the neighborhood is left..."

"We're going to a hotel, remember?" He said, glancing at me.

"Oh, right... Can I pack a bag, though?"

"Zeref packed you one."

"I was afraid you would say that," I sighed.

We continued down the street, through the town in silence, until Natsu said, "You know, I've already sent you a text about this, but I'm really sorry about yesterday. It was a big night for me, and the excitement got to my head."

I looked over at him. "Oh.. right. I'm actually okay about that. I decided I should take your suggestions. They seem pretty necessary."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Really? I mean, I kinda was talking out of my ass there... Are you really okay about that? Gajeel overheard and told me I sounded like a suburban dad...

I laughed. "You kind of did... but dads are wise, you know? Mine knew what to do after my mom died..." I sighed and looked out the window.

Natsu knew not to say anything. I had a feeling he knew about that parent-death thing, since he lived only with his brother whom he dislikes.

"Is it weird that I don't cry about him anymore?" I broke the silence, softly. "There was that one time... but I never tear up or sob anymore."

I chucked, depressed. "I guess I do kind of hate him. He was abusive and mean when I was younger, so I don't cry anymore."

Natsu sighed "I doubt you not crying has to do with how you're really feeling."

I smiled and we parked right next to the hotel.

"Can we do something before we settle down? I know it's a school day, but I got a pass," I suggested, grinning.

"What about me?" Questioned Natsu, getting out of the car.

"You're moving into a hotel," I said, shrugging. "They'd understand tomorrow. When Zeref comes we can let him check into the room, and do something. You've been driving for a while, so why don't I give it a shot?"

"No!" shouted Natsu. "No, no no no... I get _severe_ motion sickness..."

"But you were just driving now-"

"It's different when I drive... During that shuttle ride with the kids, I was puking buckets," Natsu looked legitimately panicked.

"Okay? You drive then..." I mumbled. "Let's check in."

I smiled as I watched Natsu enter the hotel in front of me. *I forgive him,* I thought happily.

 **.**

"Alright, so I sent Zeref a message about the bags, so he knows what to do," said Natsu, looking at his phone.

"He says, 'Okay.' Let's go then."

 _Just as planned_! I thought with a chuckle. _This is an excuse to go on a date with him_!

"Wanna see a movie?" Asked Natsu, driving and showing his famous grin.

"Yes! And then maybe lunch afterwards," I answered, planning in my head what to do.

"Alright! To the mall! I'm getting fired up!" cheered Natsu.

"Yeah!" Me and him shouted with joy at the same time.

 **.**

We arrived at the mall, and spoiler alert! I had the greatest time. We saw _Kimi no na wa_ for the fifteenth time, and still cried like babies. It was apparently still in that theater in that mall.

Next we went for some WacDonalds. Natsu ordered about three family orders and ate them in five bites.

"Slow down, will ya?" I complained, with scraps of food flying at me, shyly sipping my drink.

"Gud fwood," (Good Food) He said in between bites, "Musht be scawrfed dawn bwrefore syou wanst more," (Must be scarfed down before you want more.)

"Or, you know, you can eat normally..." I murmured. "Savor it once in a while."

"No way!" He said between a meal. "I get hungry fast, so I love to feel full before I get hungry again, so I eat as much as I can."

I shrugged at his logic, and finished my burger.

"Where do you want to go next?" Asked Natsu, patting his rounder stomach through his t-shirt.

"Huh? I thought we were just going out for a movie and a meal," I said, looking at him.

"It's no fun to just to that," scoffed Natsu.

"Alright!" I announced, standing up off my chair. "You'll regret this, but we're going to have some fun at the mall!"

I grabbed his wrist and ran for the nearest store.

I tried on shoes, clothes, and even dressed up Natsu in a fedora and suit. He looked absolutely adorable with his mad face and his hat tilting on his salmon hair.

Natsu sighed once I saw a pair of shoes I kept staring at. They were high-heeled boots that went up to your mid-thigh, though they were 16,000 yen. I kept staring at them and Natsu started to act uneasy.

"Lucy... can we leave? Or do you want those boots that badly?" He whined, poking at my arm.

"But... They're so pretty... And they come in dark brown..." I sighed, gazing at the gorgeous boots.

"Those are limited quality," said a store clerk. "Others that are shipping in are a lot cheaper, but don't come in the color you like there, and only last about a half a year."

I turned to Natsu. "Isn't Zeref rich?"

"Well, yeah, but I'd hate to take from his money... he can be scary sometimes..."

"I'll take the blame if he gets mad," I suggested excitedly. "He'd forgive me! I'm a guest!"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you know what happens if we get in trouble."

"Thank you!" I squealed, and I unexpectedly threw my arms around him. I hardly did it long enough to notice my mistake after the hug. It apparently knocked Natsu off guard and he bumped into the stand, knocking over a few pairs of shoes.

"Oops!" I exclaimed, helping Natsu put them back. "My mistake."

The clerk chuckled. "Quite a girlfriend you got there, fella." He said, referring to Natsu.

Natsu's face flushed and he continued matching up shoes and straightening the stand.

I decided to giggle and say, "Thank you." making Natsu more embarrassed.

"Well, that was fun," I smiled at Natsu, while walking away from the store.

"Could've been better..." he murmured, looking away.

My mind flashed back to when I hugged Natsu. I beamed as I walked through the mall with Natsu until I bumped into a familiar face.

"Lisanna! Hey," greeted Natsu, rather cheerfully. "Why aren't you in class?"

Lisanna, in a waitress uniform, was cleaning a food stand where we were standing.

"Why aren't _you_ in class?" she snickered back. "Or is it because of the accident?"

"Yeah," I broke in. "We needed to check in to our substitute home, and in our spare time we decided to have some fun!" I grinned, showing off my boots.

Lisanna smiled. "I see. Well, to answer the question Natsu asked earlier, I work here. Big Sis Mira's not working because she wants to spend time with Laxus-kun, so I have to pay for most of my things. I'm taking night classes instead of classes in the morning for shift time."

"That outfit's really cute," I cooed, eying the uniform. It was a navy blue mid-thigh, puffy dress with a black belt around the waist along with a golden belt buckle, and a golden name tag on her left side of her chest, carved into it, "Strauss."

"Thank you! Big Brother Elfman also works here, but at a different time." She looked like she suddenly got an idea, and perked up, saying, "You know, I heard you lost your job a while back. Why don't you work here?"

"Oh...-" And I stopped myself.

If I was going to accept the offer for the writing school in Crocus, I probably shouldn't get a job where I'd leave so soon.

Natsu seemed to notice something was wrong, and spoke up. "I could probably work here. I could use the extra money, and it kind of looks like Luce has to decline the offer."

My head perked up with a though I'd not rather say out loud: _But didn't they used to date? Would that be weird?_

Lisanna seemed to be slightly taken aback about the offer, and hid it quickly. "W-well, you should probably look into it. Are you familiar with the food line of work?"

"Yeah, I used..."

Their voices trailed off from my hearing when I got lost in thought.

 _Why are they talking so casually? Are they okay? Are they just being polite because of me being here_? The atmosphere around kind of stated that. _Maybe I should let them work things out_...

"Hey, Natsu," I cut into their conversation. "I have to use the ladies' room, so you stay here and hold my things." I figured it would give me time to think, and to confirm that there isn't anything between them, because when I get back, they'd act normal or not.

"O-okay," stuttered Natsu, taking my bags.

And off I went to the nearest restroom.

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

I watched as Lucy ran off to the nearest restroom.

 _Shit... how do I talk to Lisanna without her_? I pondered. Fortunately Lisanna took the first word.

"Lucy's some girl, isn't she?" She said, chuckling.

I looked down at her stuff, and I laughed back, "Yeah, that's true."

Lisanna put her hands behind her back. "I have to go back to work, so until Lucy gets back, you can sit on a bench or something. See you, Natsu." And she picked up her tray of paper plates and left me alone at the stand.

I exhaled in relief. _That went well. I'm glad nothing went wrong_... _A bit short, but harmless_.

I stretched and wandered over to the nearest bench. "Maybe I should take the job," I mumbled to myself.

I waited a little while, browsing on my phone, and after a bit, Lucy came running back to me.

"Hey," she said, panting. "Where's Lisanna?"

"She went off to work," I answered.

Lucy smiled and sat down next to me, and put her hands in her lap.

"You know," she said. "I really like Lisanna. She's a great gal."

"Did you just say 'gal?'" I asked, sweat rolling down my face.

Lucy stared at the ground with a puzzled look on her face, then burst out laughing.

"I-I just heard it," she chuckled. "Oh well. Wanna get back to the hotel?"

"Sure," I said, grinning and getting up. "Let's go."

 **~| Lucy's POV : 17:00 : Hotel :|~**

I opened the door with Natsu behind me, and we walked into the most beautiful hotel room I've been in. A sink separate from the marble bathroom, pearly white carpet, a 32-inch TV screen, a chair and desk in the corner, and two lamps on both sides of the bed.

 _Wait_... the voice in my head said. _Bed? Singular?_

Natsu answered my question. "They only gave us one bed?"

It was quite beautiful, the chocolatey-brown quilt with a white over-cover, but that wasn't the point.

"Zeref?" I said, turning to Natsu's brother. "Did they explain this to you?"

"Yes," he replied, as serious as ever. "They gave us a couple's room by mistake. Unless another room opens up early that has an acceptable amount of sleeping arrangements, we must slumber in here."

Natsu flopped on the bed and groaned.

"Well... did they give us anything extra we could work with?" I asked.

"They gave us extra pillows and thin blankets. One of us can sleep on the chair, and two of us can sleep on the bed," Zeref answered.

I blushed at the thought of me possibly sleeping in the same bed as a guy.

"I could sleep on the chair. It'd be a better decision than me sleeping with one of you," I suggested.

I sat down in the chair. _How am I going to sleep in this_? I asked myself. I squirmed into a remotely comfortable position, and my arm jerked suddenly with pain.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "Chhhh..."

"You okay?" Asked Natsu, walking toward me.

"My arm is still sore from the wound..." I sighed, holding my right elbow.

"Can you sleep on your left?"

"It's not as comfortable... and I'll probably fall off... I could try sleeping on the floor."

"Are you sure they can't give us a mattress or something? This _is_ Japan after all..." Natsu complained.

"This is a western-style hotel. I already asked," said Zeref. "If they did, they'd be out."

"I'll do without," I broke in.

I piled an extra blanket under me, and lied down with another blanket on top of me, with a pillow under my head.

"It's kind of stiff... and my back is hurting..." I said, getting up.

"It's fine," said Natsu. "You can sleep in the bed. You're hurt."

"Let us discuss the arrangements when it is actually time to sleep," suggested Zeref.

I picked up the remote and surfed through the channels.

"Hey," I said. " _Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun's_ having a marathon."

"I love that show," grinned Natsu, sitting criss-cross on the bed to the left of me.

Zeref came over and sat properly on my right. "I have never heard of this show."

"It's a hilarious romantic comedy, about this dense guy and his crazy group of talented friends," explained Natsu.

 _About dense_.. I said in my head. I shook it off, and I laughed my ass off along with Natsu.

"I'll order a pizza, suggested Natsu."

I looked at the clock. 20:41. _I think we watched half the show_...

After Natsu ordered, we watched one more episode of _Nozaki-kun_ and he suggested we worked on the play. "Zeref hasn't heard of it, right?"

"Right!" I said, running toward my bag and pulled out the script.

"What is this about?" Zeref asked.

"It's about this princess living in a tower guarded by a dragon, waiting for her prince to come rescue her, but she falls in love with the dragon instead," I explained.

"It's really cheesy," murmured Natsu.

"Oi..." I sighed back. "Let's just rehearse. You were having trouble with this part, right?" I pointed to the scene.

"Yeah. It's hard to memorize for me."

"Same here."

I cleared my throat. "Haru, why are you here?"

Natsu took a deep breath, and recited in a deep voice: "Princess, I could not stop thinking about you and your absence. I had to see you again."

As Lilia, I ran up to Natsu, and took his hands, like I was supposed to in the play, but despite that reason, Natsu blushed, making me embarrassed.

"You must leave, they could slay you," said Lilia.

"Then they shall slay me," Haru said, romantically.

Lilia smiled, and took Haru up to her room, and hid him in his closet.

Then we heard a knock.

I opened the door to a puzzled delivery man.

His eyes followed to the script in my hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you rehearsing a play?" He asked.

My face grew red. "Oh my gosh... did you think that was real?"

The delivery guy laughed, and nodded. "But I knocked and walked into worse."

Me and Natsu blushed and tipped the guy for the pizza.

We ate and completed the scene in the play.

I studied for the skipped class and missed homework, and stressed with how much I had. _This is gonna cost me more money than needed_.. I thought, sighing. _I need a job_...

While I was doing my homework, Natsu came out of the shower, and to my astonishment, not wearing a shirt.

I blushed and covered my eyes, but, you know, when you see a totally attractive guy you're crushing on shirtless for the first time, the image burns in your brain forever. Natsu didn't seem to notice, and stayed like that until Zeref pointed out that I was melting into a puddle in the corner.

"Anyway, we must discuss the sleeping arrangements," said Zeref, making me rush through my homework.

I finished and put the rest in my bag, and stayed on the chair in the corner.

"Lucy will sleep in the bed because of her slight injuries, but there is not enough comfortable sleeping options for me and Brother," said Zeref. "Either me or Natsu can sleep on the chair."

This was pressure to me.

Natsu didn't seem to be happy at the thought of me in the same bed as his brother, and frowned when I mentioned it.

"If you are not happy about me and Zeref, Natsu," I said. "You can just sleep with me. I have known you longer after all."

And the sentence struck me, and I reheard it over and over in my mind. I felt like I could burst into flames.

"I am fine taking my slumber upon the chair," said Zeref.

"Well, then," I smiled. "It's decided. I'll take a shower, and we'll all sleep."

And that's what we did.

 **.**

I finished, and I climbed into the bed beside my friend. Apparently he was awake, because I heard him grunt.

"You okay with this?" I whispered.

Natsu turned opposite to me.

I had to face his back on my left, because of my injured right arm.

Natsu turned over, facing me.

My face pinked. I said in a hushed voice, "You know I can't turn around.."

"Why would you need to?" Whispered Natsu back.

I avoided his eye contact, "Why wouldn't I? N-nobody really looks good up close or anything... so..."

 _What the hell did I just say_?

"Are you saying I'm ugly up close?" Chuckled Natsu, softly.

"N-no... I meant me..."

Slowly, Natsu scooted closer to me and took my hand.

"W-what are you doing?" I whispered.

"Proving you wrong."

I was unable to tear away from Natsu's sleepy gaze. My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid he'd hear or feel it, but his soft breathing and the warmth of his hand calmed me down, and made me feel... comfortable, safe even.

I loosened and relaxed and watched Natsu's eyes droop until they were closed and he was asleep. I cherished the moment, and didn't let myself believe think it was a dream.

It wasn't of course, because I fell asleep, with a beautiful feeling you couldn't feel in dreams.

 **.**

I woke up feeling warm and comfortable, though something was picking and my mind. I felt like I was being held, and when I looked up, I saw it. Natsu was cuddling with me in bed.

I stared at his face while mine burned with disbelief as I recollected what happened last night, with the hand-holding stuff. I couldn't exactly squirm out of Natsu's hold or push him away, but when Natsu opened his eyes in a sleepy spell, he took care of that for me.

His eyes suddenly grew wide and he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away. He bolted up and looked around the room.

"ASKAGHPH," he cried, while looking back at me, now sitting up.

"Whaa... whaaa?" He muttered, and I sighed, covering my embarrassment.

"Calm down, Natsu. We just slept in the same bed, and it'd be natural for the human body to find comfortable support in sleep."

I was freaking out too, but I turned my head, and stood up to get my clothes. The kind of freaking out wasn't bad, but quite the opposite. I felt overjoyed. What happened last night was possibly a sign that Natsu had feelings for me, or he just pushed me _wayy_ too hard into the friend zone.

"Today's Saturday, right? We have class. I don't want to miss out on another class, or the professor'll kill me," I said, getting my clothes out of my bag.

Zeref finally woke up and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and said in his soft, monotone voice, "So you kids have class on Saturdays..."

"Our Academy is weird..." grumbled Natsu, rubbing his eyes.

After getting dressed into my uniform in the bathroom, me and Natsu took the Dragneel car to the Academy.

I spent too much of the day smiling, thinking about what happened.

"Lucy!" Cana yelled, as she shook me out of my daze. "You look like you're magically turning into a beet.."

I looked around me. Me and Cana were walking down the hallway to the club room.

"How was class?" I said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it was great~~," she purred sarcastically. "I learned about— Who the hell cares about what I learned about?! What did _you_ learn about? That you're in love or something?"

The question made me stop in my tracks and made my heart skip several beats.

"No!" I reassured my friend. "I just... no..."

I hurried into the room, and joined my main group table with Cana lagging behind. The group was the usual Gray (with the occasional Juvia clinging to his arm) Erza, Levy, Mira if she wasn't busy, Cana if she wasn't out drinking, and of course, me and Natsu.

I sat down next to Natsu, happily drinking in all the positive memories and the comforting thought of me and my liking to him.

"Yo, Luce!" Natsu said, cheerily, and as always, put his arm around me.

"Lucy," Cana interrupted.

I shot her a look, telling her to not ruin this for me, and Cana stuttered after, and awkwardly looked away, finger-combing her long brown hair. "Lucy.. when's your birthday? I'd like to take you out drinking some time."

"My birthday?" I asked. "Um... July 1st."

"Oooh, getting close!" Levy grinned.

Levy immediately reminded me about the school offer I got from my cousin.

I stood up abruptly, causing Natsu to retract his arm swiftly, and almost falling on top of Erza.

"Levy-chan," I said, staring at her. "Can I talk to you?"

Levy got up with a puzzled look on her face. "Alright, Lu-chan..."

I led her out of the room, and shut the doors behind me.

"Levy-chan... I got a important offer from my cousin, Sting," I sighed.

"You're cousins with _Sting_?" She exclaimed.

"Huh-"

"Wait... he doesn't have any Japanese linage... and he's kinda old for... Never mind! Different Sting..." she laughed nervously.

"Anyway... Sting offered me to be a student at an expensive Literature School in Crocus, him paying for all the lessons and a dorm room, but I don't want to leave any of you guys!"

Levy looked down and sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Decide for me!" I cried. "You're the smartest person I know, and know what's best for me, Levy-chan."

Levy rubbed her shoulders uncomfortably. "I really think this is your decision... But I'll tell you something, Crocus is really dangerous, and it's not good for you living there alone, if you will be."

"Kinda have to live there alone... I possibly would have a roommate, but no close friends... But I really want to be a writer, Levy! I want to make it big, and this is most likely my best chance."

 **~| Natsu's POV : A minute before :|~**

I watched Lucy and Levy walk a short distance to the doors out of the room.

"Wonder what that's about," said Gray.

"They seem worried," frowned Juvia, clinging to Gray's arm.

I cautiously stood up slowly, and escaped my spot on the bench.

"I.. gotta go to the bathroom," I murmured.

"Natsu, honey," said Mira. "I don't think eavesdropping is the best idea.."

"Can a man use the restroom once in a while?" I complained.

"I'll go with him," said Gray. "I'll keep an eye on him."

"Interesting," cooed Mira, blushing.

Instead of conflicting harm on the fantasizing Mira, Gray punched me in the arm, telling me to move forward.

We reached the door, and Gray put his ear to it, and signaled me to do the same. What I heard was:

"—offered me to be a student at an expensive Literature School in Crocus, him paying for all the lessons and a dorm room, but I don't want to leave any of you guys!"

We heard a sigh and a high voice: "What do you want me to do?"

"Decide for me! You're the smartest person I know, and know what's best for me, Levy-chan."

There was a pause.

"I really think this is your decision... But I'll tell you something, Crocus is really dangerous, and it's not good for you living there alone, if you will be."

"Kinda have to live there alone... I possibly would have a roommate, but no close friends... But I really want to be a writer, Levy-chan! I want to make it big, and this is most likely my best chance."

"Lu-chan, I'm not supporting the decision, but I'm not apposing it. This is something you need to think about yourself."

We heard them walking back to the door, and me and Gray scrambled away messily.

We got ourselves back to the table before Levy and Lucy did.

"You were quick," suspiciously glared Erza.

"Let them be, they're guys. We don't know how they go," said Mira.

I pulled out my phone and I texted, aiming away from Erza: _lucys going away_?

Gray: _You heard them. She's thinking about it_.

I put down my phone before the duo sat down again.

 _What's going to happen_? I thought, sighing and flopping head-first on the table.

 **Let's play a game! Guess my second favorite comedy anime besides Fairy Tail! Msg it. I bet it's pretty obvious, and I %100 recommend it!**

 **I have plenty of stuff planned for the story ahead, so hold onto your hats/seats/panties, whatever :D**

 **I know that the hotel scene wouldn't likely happen, but this is a fan fiction, so I can write whatever... right? Hehe, I hope you liked it!**


	18. Chapter 17 5 Bonus Gajevy Chapter

****Bonus Gajevy Chapter!****

 **~| Levy's POV : Mongolia Academy :|~**

I gazed aimlessly at the blackboard as our class professor wrote our lesson in needlessly simple detail. His chalk screeched in contact with the board, making the students, and myself, wince at the sharp swipe of his hand echoing through the rather small classroom.

"I'll be giving you a test tomorrow, so be prepared. I'm sure you have learned this in high school," the professor explained.

 _A rather simple formula. The trick is there really is no need to divide the square root by 3, but use x to your multiplication advantage_ , thought I, writing the juicy information on my yellow note pad.

My crush and classmate looked over me to peek at my notes. The idiotic, punk, rich kid with the piercings did this a lot, though I have never really stopped him. Unfortunately, I was too small to make him stop looking above my head from the already elevated seats, and it would draw too much attention if I did hardly anything else. I stayed seated, but irritated at his actions.

After the calculus class, I ran up to my hopeless, most likely an unrequited love victim.

"Oi, Gajeel," I said, poking at his sturdy arm. "May I ask you something?"

The muscular tower of spiked black hair and a loose uniform turned around in the hall. I strained my neck to look up to the tall, robust creature, and he, relieving me of my neck pain, knelt down with his hands on his knees to my level, and responded, "Whadd'ya want, shrimp?"

A cute nickname it was, it was old and now getting annoying. "Stop addressing me in that manner. I also ask of you to stop peeking over my head to look over at my notes. The professor could get upset."

"If he finds out," he hinted, patting my blue head and winking.

I sighed sighed and walked away from the ridiculous conversation. _Why did I fall for him_? I asked myself.

Gajeel walked on through the hall and suddenly stopped. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Oi, shrimp."

I looked up at him, my eyes possibly sparkling, taking in his tall and strangely handsome figure.

"To make up for me staying in that one time, come to the movies or something. Message me." Then he walked off, hands in his pockets, with a silly legs-apart stroll.

My face warmed along with my heart. I knew he meant the festival, and I knew he was going to make up for it. Maybe he— _No Levy_! the logical side of me screamed in my head. _Don't get too excited_! _This could be a major misunderstanding, and he could mean something completely different from what you're thinking. Snap out of it and get to your art class!_ I clapped my hands on my face twice to make the blushing stop, and speed-walked to my next class.

 **.**

I bounced my pencil up and down against my desk, like I usually did when I was bored, until my professor Reedus Jonah commanded me to stop. I blushed and continued working on my piece. I finished and looked upon it with joy. It was the perfect picture of Lucy colored with expensive oil pastels Professor Reedus gave us to practice with. _I gotta give this to her,_ I told myself.

I packed up my stuff and carefully placed the picture along in my backpack beside my laptop, along with my utensils after class ended.

 _Ahh_.. I thought. What should I do when I get home? _Probably study for the next history lesson? Draw? Maybe finish up that picture of the fantasy landscape_... I hummed along whilst thinking of these things until I reached the exit, where an unexpected person was leaning against the wall outside.

I opened the door to the Gajeel leaning on the wall to the right of me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him after thirty seconds of silence.

Gajeel looked away. "I waited for you. We're going to the movies, right?"

I stared at him. "I thought that'd be later...-"

"You got plans?" He swiftly answered back, whipping his head towards me.

"Oh, no! I don't, just I wasn't expecting this..."

Students started to exit the building right behind me, and Gajeel pulled me away, his large hand gripping my small wrist. He continued to hold on even when we got off school grounds.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

He didn't look at me, but he kept walking, and answered, "To the movies." He let go of my hand, making it able for me to slip on my backpack.

A wide grin spread across my face. Gajeel glanced at me.

"What'cha so happy for, shrimp?"

"Nothing," I answered jubilantly. "Nothing at all."

 **.**

"No matter what you say, documentary movies are fun," I argued with Gajeel on the way out of the movies. "And they talked about stuff I thought you'd like..."

"War?" Gajeel asked, raising a pierced brow at me. "I don't like stuff that has to do with conflict."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You seem like a kind of guy who likes violence."

"I never said I didn't like violence. I like things peaceful, but the thrill of beating somebody up... that is perfect."

I giggled at this unexpected sentence coming from my unrequited love's mouth.

"You're even more of a delinquent than you come off, with your 'thrill of beating somebody up.'"

Gajeel flushed and shouted, "Oi! You insulted me, so I demand we watch something I wanna watch!"

"Huh?—"

"This!" He yelled, pointing to a poster of a musical documentary. "Is what I want to watch!"

"Another documentary?" I sighed. "I thought you didn't like those."

"It's about music! I'll have you know I am a fantastic musician," he said, adding in a "Gihihi."

I shrugged, then winced.

"Is your shoulder alright?" Gajeel said, his voice dramatically changing.

"It's sore, but healing alright."

Gajeel stepped back and shut his eyes. "Alright, then. We'll get some food, then we'll watch the movie. It plays in about forty minutes."

"Where?"

Gajeel grunted, and taking it as an answer as "Wherever," I led us to the nearest fast food place, WacDonalds.

Gajeel ordered three drinks still in the can, and two large meals to go with it. I mildly ordered a small cheeseburger and a Pepsi.

"Lu-chan sent me a text saying that Natsu eats a lot... I guess you and Natsu share the same trait," I nervously said, breaking into his gouging into his meal savagely. He downed the drinks in three seconds flat each can. He finished off the burgers, and sighed. "You gonna eat that?" He asked, pointing at my untouched burger.

I sighed, "Yes, thank you.." I awkwardly nibbled at it while Gajeel gnawed on an aluminum can. He seemed to attempt saying something, so I wolfed the rest of my burger down, and he stopped.

After clearing the food out of my teeth, I asked the gnawing-Gajeel, "Why are you doing that?"

Gajeel took the half-ruined can out of his sharp teeth, and responded matter-a-factly, "I like the taste."

"That couldn't be very good for your teeth..."

"Eh, not like I care. I prefer metal than any type of food, so I'd rather you not judge me."

I drummed my fingers on the table and puffed my lips, making the strands of my blue hair fly up.

"Hey," Gajeel broke in the silence. "You draw, right? Lemme see what you got, if you have anything on you."

My head perked up, and I grinned.

"That's a fantastic idea! I just finished this oil painting of—"

I reached down into my bag and pulled out: A yaoi comic sketch.

Thank God I did not show it to him, just pulled it out enough that I was holding it in both hands, and a family with two small children passing by saw a glimpse of it. Gajeel leaned over. "Hmm?"

My face broiled, and I shoved the sketch back into my bag.

"Nothing! Just... notes." I was only half-lying. I drew it on notebook paper.

I sighed and pulled the oil painting of Lucy and gave it to Gajeel.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "It's the bunny girl."

"Huh?"

"She looks like a bunny to me," plainly stated the teenager.

I took the painting and stared at it. All I saw was a shiny, more abstract version of my close, blonde friend.

"I don't see it..."

Gajeel grunted. "Well, I'm no artist, except for music, but that's pretty good. You got talent, shrimp."

I blushed and smiled at the compliment, ignoring the nickname.

I inhaled and grinned at my crush. "Well, the movie's about to start. Shall we?"

Gajeel got up without a word, and headed back to the theater with me.

 **.**

The movie was possibly wasn't like Gajeel thought. It explained a lot about classical musicians, famous pianists, and very little about the modern rock music he was into. It lasted a good two hours, and Gajeel fell asleep through half of it.

"It wasn't _that_ boring," I stated, trying to make a point to Gajeel. "You learned a lot out of it."

"For your information, it was so boring, a couple decided to make out in the middle of it just to entertain themselves," agreed Gajeel. It was, unfortunately, true. They got kicked out, though.

"Well... you're the one who picked it," I shot back.

"Here's a tip if we ever go out like this again; 'Never let me pick.'"

The words struck me, and I stopped in my tracks. _Ever go out again_ played in my head again. "S-sorry!" I stammered, and I caught back up to Gajeel who was still walking.

"It's 22:00, right?" I asked.

Gajeel pulled out his phone. "Yeah. I should take you home."

I smiled, and walked along to the outside with Gajeel.

"You have a coat, right?" He asked, without looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm good," I piped.

We reached my neighborhood in silence after ten minutes of walking. Gajeel stopped walking about 300 feet from my house.

"Oi, shrimp," he said softly. "I gotta ask you somethin'."

I stopped and turned around. Gajeel walked closer, a foot between us.

"I feel weird around you," he said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah... And I don't feel like that around others."

I tilted my head, feeling a small spark of hope rise in my body. I shuffled awkwardly. "D-Did it feel alright?"

Gajeel avoided my gaze and scratched the back of his head. "I guess so... It felt- fun."

My eyes grew wide. "Do you want to hang out some more, or something? I mean... if it's fun to."

Then he did something I didn't expect. Gajeel knelt down on his knees and put his hands on my shoulders and drew me close, resulting in me kissing him. It was sort of like everything went down in slow motion. My embarrassing request to go out some more, and Gajeel's action, but the slowest was the kiss. It lasted a while, and the feeling didn't go after he pulled away.

I awkwardly put my fingers up to my lips and shyly looked down.

"Sorry," Gajeel whispered, still kind of close to me. "I did that on impulse."

I looked up into his reddish eyes. Gajeel backed away.

"Yeah... Hanging out again, I mean."

I grinned. "Thanks."

And he went off in his own direction.

I touched my lips. The warm feeling didn't leave, and it spread to my heart.

"Thanks..."

 **I just wanted to... o^.^o**

 **Next chapter'll be next month as a continuation of the main story!**

 **Happy late Halloween!**

 **Can I just say that I love all you readers so much, and as little amount you are, you make me really happy, seeing the reviews and follows on my gmail. Thank you so much for reading this far and looking forward to new chapters. You all make me so happy!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving, or like a week from Thanksgiving... If you celebrate it, then I hope you had a great time! It's the one year anniversary of this fan-fiction, and I thank you all sooooo much for everything! Thank you for reading this far, because we are almost at the climax of the story. I really hope you love this chapter, full of comedy and shock ;)**

 **~| Lucy's POV : June 11th : Sunday :|~**

The police had confirmed that the criminal was not near the area, so we returned to the house in the middle of the night, responding to the sudden urgency of anxious Natsu, but this relief of home did not stop the the day of stress and anxiety starting out with the usual gloomy wake-up call from sleepy Natsu, and Happy hopping on my bed, clawing at my stomach while I was half-asleep. I brushed my teeth and lazily put on my outfit of a blue t-shirt and red skirt. I skipped putting my hair into anything special. I got downstairs to the rather grumpy Natsu munching on a half-burnt pancake.

I sighed and helped myself to a serving of three pancakes with extra syrup and two slices of bacon.

"You've gwonna get fwat..." remarked Natsu, head on the table with the pancake half in his mouth.

I grunted and awkwardly did the weak karate-chop you see on slapstick comedies on his head.

Natsu raised his head and stared at me with scarily slanted eyes.

I looked up from my pancakes to meet his gaze with an unknowing look.

"What?"

"Nothing..." gloomily answered Natsu, immediately perking up and stuffing his face with pancakes with the occasional slice of bacon.

I finished my breakfast and saying, "Thanks for the food," started off to my room, but Natsu stopped me by saying, "Luce! I need to ask you something!"

I whipped my head around.

Natsu glared once again, then looking defeated, placed his head back to the table, muttering.

"Seriously Natsu, is there something you need to say?" I said. "Because if there is, you can tell me."

He said it so softly I had to wait a moment to make it out. "Are you leaving?"

I stared at him, but he only turned his head away along with his arms he was hiding in.

"Nothing... just go upstairs," he whispered.

"Nats-"

"I said never mind!"

This took me aback, and I continued my stroll back to my room, that I'd possibly be leaving soon.

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

"I said never mind!" I shouted, guilt and questions taking over me. I immediately regretted saying this, because when I looked over my shoulder, Lucy looked surprised, and slowly sulked to back her room.

After Lucy retreated, I let out a very audible groan. "Why couldn't I just ask her?"

I sighed loudly. I had quite the problem. I had just found out that Lucy would be going away to a literature school all the way in the capital, Crocus, which was quite the ways away from here. Of course it'd be her life-long dream, but I felt a spike of urgency to make her stay and that it would be horrible if she left.

I clenched my right hand tightly. I remembered the moment at the fireworks festival where I saw the reflection in Lucy's beautiful chocolate eyes, and my mind was taken over by some kind of instinct to move in closer. I only made sense of it to cover it up with a lie about her having a fever.

That, of course, is the only thing that can pop up in my head right now. _Thanks_ , _brain_ , I sarcastically thought.

I got up out of my chair and quickly ran into my room where I grabbed my displayed anime series I loved. I got up to Lucy's room where I haltingly knocked on the door.

"Luce?" I said, opening the door to the blonde reading a weekly manga book. "Wanna watch _Shingeki no Kyojin_?"

 **.**

Me and Lucy enjoyed the anime as much as the next fan, but I enjoyed it a lot with a friend along in my room. The action-packed 3DM Gear movements, and the constant squirts of blood coming from the eaten people, the close-ups of the ugly titans' faces were fun and all, but feeling Lucy close to me while she winced, my heart rate rose more than usual watching the hyped _Shingeki no Kyojin_. We sang along to the opening, which was kind of difficult, but extremely fun. Before I knew it, we finished the first half of the first season.

We finished some of it, and decided to take a late-lunch/dinner break. Lucy clapped on to my food-flipping skills while I did my usual cooking on high heat. The flames danced before my eyes, making me happier than I was before. Fire was my life; it was just really cool. I plated the food, and led Lucy back upstairs to the table.

"Hey..." Lucy awkwardly murmured to me while poking at her rice with her chopsticks. "What did you want to ask me before at breakfast?"

I froze before I could take the first bite of my food. If I asked her, she'd know that I eavesdropped on her and Levy. "Uhh... On second thought, it's pretty stupid. I'd rather not say."

"Okay then. Just letting you know that I can listen to your problems."

There was silence, until she asked, "I guess we're close enough to ask this question, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to not have any parents around, and you sort of dislike Zeref, so why do you live here?"

"It's not like I have any other place to go," I answered.

"It's not that," she said. "Why can't you live off of Zeref but go somewhere else? Or rather... what's your background?"

I sighed. "I've never really told anyone..."

"But I am living with you..."

I looked over into her warm brown eyes. "Fine..." I took a deep breath before I begun the backstory. "I was a waiter once at this restaurant, but I guess you mean a bit before that... I had an adoptive dad, and I don't remember anything before that, but he was really kind to me, kept me safe and happy, but one day he just... disappeared." I paused. "It was really weird, because he was perfectly happy with me, gave me presents, taught me how to write, cook, and talk to people, but he just," I felt tears come to my eyes. "Disappeared..."

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered.

I wiped my eyes and grinned with effort at her. "I'm okay. I just wasn't exactly expecting you to ask-k..." I choked on a few sobs.

Lucy got up and sat right next to me at the table. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"No... I mean, I haven't told anyone this... so I'm not experienced." I trailed off, my sobs slowly subsiding. "I'm fine. This is stupid."

Lucy put her arms around my neck and hugged me, her face at the back of my neck. I felt her breathing, which sent goosebumps down my neck and torso.

"Luce?" I softly squeaked in falsetto. "Uhhh..."

Lucy pulled back and smiled, closing her eyes and breathing in slowly. "Nothing. You just looked like you needed a hug." She stood up and went back to her food, munching casually like nothing happened.

My heart beat furiously against my ribs, sending a flush to my face, making me extensively embarrassed.

Lucy glanced up, and I realized I was staring at her. I flipped my head to the side and stammered, "Uhhhhm... You have food on your face... so just a little heads up."

I didn't see what she did next because I was busy squeezing my eyes closed so hard, thinking that would stop the beating of my heart. I sighed and the throbbing calmed down.

"So what do you want to do after this?" I asked.

"I was going to study," answered Lucy, finishing off her plate.

I looked down, disappointed, but agreed we needed to focus on school.

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

I shut the door behind me, quite confused. I shook my head and headed towards my desk. I was about to pull out my school books, but my phone buzzed on the wooden desk, making a loud, continuous sound. I turned it on and I saw I got a text, saying,

 _Lu-chan, my place for a sleepover if you have time 3 Inviting Mira, Erza, Cana, Juvia, and Wendy. Kinana is hanging out with Cobra-kun, so she couldn't make it_

\- Levy 18:05

I replied: _Great! Can I study there?_

Levy: _Sure! Movie and popcorn afterwords, though_

Me: _Love you!_

I sent a text to Natsu saying that I was going to a sleepover, and gathered things I would take. I opened the door to leave, and Natsu was standing outside of my room, back against the wall.

"Need a ride?" He asked, rather cooly, making my heart squeeze.

"Yeah, sure."

 **.**

I thought that I would be driving his car, but it seemed like _just a permit_ wasn't enough. I sighed and stared out the window while Natsu hummed along to the soft sound of the _Radwimps_ playing.

"Are you really _that_ sensitive about your car?" I asked, stubbornly.

"Shut up," said Natsu. "It's the law."

"I don't think someone with _extreme_ car sickness should be driving a car either," I murmured.

"Oi! It doesn't work only if I'm the one who's completely focused and controlling the car! I could be driving and I wouldn't get sick at all," he explained loudly, making a sharp right turn. Natsu gagged, making me giggle.

"But, there's my point," I smirked.

Natsu, at a red light, looked down and panted. "Shut uppp..."

He shook his head three times harshly, and we continued on.

"Anyways," said Natsu. "What'cha gonna do at the sleepover?"

"You know, doing the usual at a girl's sleepover... Do eachother's makeup, talk about boys, watch a movie... do a pillow fight in our bras and panties," I cleverly added.

"Say what?" Natsu exclaimed an octave higher. "Women do that?!"

I laughed hard at his reaction. We pulled up to the house, and I said "Bye" before giving an answer to Natsu's question, leaving him red-faced.

"Hello, my best friend~~~" I sang sarcastically, entering the house.

Levy played along and sang back, "Helluu, my bestest buddy!~~~"

We laughed and clasped hands, "Aww, Lu-chan! I missed you for these past two days!"

"Aww I did too!" I avoided hugging her, which was hard, but because of her injury, I stopped myself.

"Man, some kids are getting friendly," I heard a raspy but feminine voice remark.

I looked up and saw the attractive, brunette figure of Cana the Drinker.

"Aww, Cana! Where have you been?" I grinned, approaching her.

Cana ran towards me down the small hall and squashed me in a great bear-hug. The smell of booze entranced me in nostalgia.

"Luuuucyyy!" Mira squealed, running towards me, embracing the back part of me. Levy joined in, and Erza split us apart.

We all heard the doorbell ring, and emerged the two blue-haired girls of Wendy and Juvia.

"H-H-Hello, Levy-san! Thank you for inviting me," Wendy politely said, bowing lowly.

"Thank you for inviting me as well," echoed Juvia, copying Wendy's bow.

"You guys!" Replied Levy, delighted. "At a sleepover you don't act like you're in the presence of the Emperor!"

"Right!" Nervously exclaimed the small girl with long, dark pigtails, raising her head. "Sorry..."

She took off her shoes and entered the hall with the heap of the other girls, and Juvia followed her.

"Alright!" Cried Cana, throwing her arms around the minors. "Let's binge drink till 5:00!"

"None of that, Cana," Mira said, tilting her head.

"Yes. It is irresponsible to drink so much in one night," agreed Erza.

"No it's not that," interfered Mira. "Booze costs a lot. I work in a bar, so I know."

"You work in a bar?" I inquired, unacknowledged. "I just thought you were a waitress."

"Pizzaaa~~" purred Levy, bringing in a freshly baked pizza out into the hall. "Quit being all cooped up in the hall, we have food!"

I joined the girls chasing after one another to the kitchen, where the petite, white-haired Mrs. McGarden.

"Good evening, girls," she beamed.

"Good evening, ma'am," we all chimed.

We gouged ourselves on two pepperoni and veggie pizzas, and sat around talking at the table.

"Who want's to play Truth or Dare?" asked Mira.

"No! No no no!" Cana interrupted, passionately.

"Aww, Cana, I thought you liked this kinda stuff," I commented.

"That's not what I meant," said Cana. "I mean this is stuff we should do before bed! It's waaay more fun that way."

Everyone but Wendy and Juvia agreed, since they were the nervous types.

"Who wants to watch a movie?" Levy suggested.

"What do you have?" Asked Mira.

Levy walked into the living room and pulled out a variety of movies.

"So you have _Harry Potter_ , that British movie series," I said, staring in awe.

"Yeah, but the books were much better. It was fun reading in English," beamed Levy, who knew several languages.

"Let's watch a _Studio Ghibli_ movie!" Grinned Wendy. "Those are so fun..."

"That's true! Let's watch _Princess Monoke_ ," suggested Cana. "It has the most gore."

In the end, we all picked our favorite love story, _Whisper of the Heart_.

"I never understood the thing about the cat," said Erza.

"They have a spin-off for that," I said. "It's really funny."

"If we have time we can watch that too," said Levy.

We finished, and watched _The Cat's Return_ in the end with a little arguing.

"It's weird that I can fall in love with a cat," pondered Wendy out loud, making her blush after she realized what she said.

Even though I did the same once, I laughed along with my friends with Wendy's comment.

We finished the movie, and Mrs. McGarden made us fix up the living room, covered with snacks and candy wrappers.

"And Cana-chan, please hold off the drinking," she requested. "I don't want you returning home with a hangover, and there's minors in here."

"Yeah, yeah," murmured Cana, taking one last swig.

We all gathered into Levy's rather small, but neat room. It was neat, though her desk was cluttered with books and comic sketches, and boards with red wires strung across monotone photos hung loosely on her walls.

"Sorry about the slight mess," she apologized. "I like to keep it organized in my own way, and I've been trying do figure out secrets about aliens."

"Sounds spooky," remarked the mostly-silent Juvia.

"Alright!" Erza grinned, clapping twice and rubbing her hands together. "What should we do first?"

"Old Maid!" I randomly shouted out.

Cana cracked up, lofting herself on Levy's bed. "Aww, what a sweet and innocent child you are."

"I have a karaoke machine stashed somewhere in my closet, and a disk of an anime mix! I got it at a convention," said Levy.

"Karaoke!" Cheered Mira and Wendy together.

Levy opened her closet, and out tumbled a pile of art supplies, clothing, and mostly books of all genres.

"Wow... You have a _lot_ of stuff," commented Cana.

We eventually dug the karaoke machine and stuffed the things back into the closet.

Wendy started out with a sweet _Clannad: After Story_ opening, with the highest, sweetest voice we've heard in a while. Levy, who had a very pretty voice, did a _Kanon (2006)_ opening perfectly, but a bit higher. I shakily gave a decent performance of _Shingatsu wo Kimi no Uso's_ _Hikaru Nara_ , and everyone applauded. Then came Juvia, who gave a surprisingly pretty performance of _A Cruel Angel's Thesis_ of _Evangelion_. Then came a duet with Erza and Mira, who aggressively song battled to the _Shingeki no Kyojin_ first opening. Of course we all joined in at the "JAEHAR" line, but what I found weird is that Levy giggled uncontrollably at the beginning chant. It did sound like something in English, but I forgot what.

The night went by quickly, along with karaoke, movies, talking and studying, until the dreaded words of Mrs. McGarden escaped her mouth: "Girls! Get to bed! It's late."

I looked at the clock. Sure enough it was 1:53, and the eerie presence of panic spread from my back to the tip of my nose, because Cana was emanating it. She jumped up behind me, eyes shining, and landed straight behind me. I let out a small squeal of fear while she started to clutch my breasts.

"Stoppp!" I cried, panicking.

"You know what time it is! TRUTH OR DA-"

"Time to stop groping the poor child," demanded Erza. "Not that there is anything wrong with skin-ship among fellow girls, but she looks like she's in pain."

It was true, so Cana let go and grunted. "Whatever!"

We all started to dress into our pajamas, to Juvia's discomfort.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, hun!" Mira consoled, putting her loose pink tank top on.

"Of course not!" Grinned Cana, only stripping down to her underwear for sleepwear. "I'm sure you're just as hot as the rest of us."

"Juvia is not afraid about that," Juvia said. "Juvia is just embarrassed."

Erza came to her and took Juvia's top off herself, making Juvia unbearably embarrassed.

"Just undress," she sighed.

We all finished changing, the lights were out, except one for us to play. Cana chose a spot on the floor uncomfortably close to me in our sleeping bags.

"Why does only my life interest you so much?" I sighed.

"You're the only one who's not married but still lives with a guy who's not related to you," she smirked suspiciously.

"Really?" Gasped Wendy, turning red.

"It's only a place for me to stay!"

"But you're in love with him," broke in Mira.

Cana gasped humorously and moved in closer.

"I am not in love with him!" I cried.

"Who?" Asked Wendy.

"Natsu," answered Levy, grinning.

"I am not, though!" I kept saying.

"I've analyzed it and all the signs point that you- love- him~~" Purred Mira. "Take it from a married woman."

"But she is not constantly spacing out in fantasies of erotic hopes and wishes," argued Erza.

"What the hell?" Murmured Levy.

"Erza-san, that is not how love works," said Juvia, softly.

"Who said she wasn't though?" Cana giggled.

"That's it! Cana, Truth or Dare?" I yelled.

"Dare!"

I stopped and thought for a moment. "I dare you to not talk about my love life for the next month!"

"Can't do that, miss Naughty," she said, winking.

"Than for the rest of the day!" I continued, determined.

"For the rest of the game, maybe, but I can still ask you questions and make you do dares related," Cana countered.

"One question, and one dare!"

"Deal!"

We shook on it.

"Alrighty! I guess it's my turn," said Cana, thinking this over. "Erza, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," said the red-head.

"Have you ever done it with a guy?"

"I have," Erza bluntly and quickly replied.

Wendy squealed and covered her face, which was red.

"Daaamn," was Cana's reaction, impressed.

"Alright then, Wendy, Truth or Dare?" Erza challenged.

"Hmmm... dare."

"I dare you to search Levy's desk for a yaoi sketch and stare at it for fifteen seconds," Erza smirked.

"NO!" Shouted Levy, running in front of her desk. "Do NOT make the child lose her innocence!"

"Yaoi?" Was the dreaded question that Wendy asked.

"The kid has to know one way or another," shrugged Cana.

Ignoring my protests, Cana whispered the definition of the word, and Wendy fell over, her face burning scarlet.

"I-i-i-i-i-it can't be too-o bad, right?" She said, and got up and picked up the first sheet on the desk, despite Levy trying to make her stop.

She stared at it, surprisingly unaffected. She placed the sheet face-down and lay back down in her sleeping bag.

"That was easy..." I commented.

"I've seen worse," simply state Wendy. "Mira, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," she said, smiling.

"Turn around three times and bark like a dog... if you don't mind," added Wendy, timidly.

Mira did it, and sat back down.

"Luuuuuuucy," she smiled evilly, making me squeal and hide in my sleeping bag.

"Truth or Dare?"

"DARE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DARE!" I yelled, knowing if they heard _anything_ that happened between me and Natsu, I'd never hear the end of it.

"Make out with Cana," she smiled.

"Say what?" Me and Cana said in unison, but in very different ways. I'll let you guess how.

After too much persuasion, me and Cana finally sat face-to-face with each other. Cana was grinning and cheering while I was sitting, with a look on my face that could kill even Death.

"If you're uncomfortable, you can just do a peck, and I'll embrace you while squeezing your boobs," she suggested.

"Just keep your mouth _closed_ ," I begged.

We leaned forward, and Cana said last minute, "I don't make promises!" And gave me my first kiss along what she suggested before.

I struggled away, and Cana grinned. "Damn, girl! You need to work on your kissing skills and less aggressiveness!"

"What?" I yelled, still trying to wipe my mouth of disgust.

"Trying to push away was fun."

"Watching two girls make out was fun," said Mira, grinning.

"WHATEVER!" I yelled. "I'm going to make you feel _pain_ , Albrona, _pain_ \- ...but Juvia hasn't gone yet, so Juvia? Truth or Dare?"

 **~| Natsu's POV : Meanwhile... :|~**

I just got home from dropping Lucy off, and honestly I felt really lonely and bored. I continued our spree of _Shingeki no Kyojin_ , but singing the opening and squealing sarcastically at all the blood alone was pretty sad for a collage student with plenty of friends; so I decided to call some of those friends up to hang out. Erza and Mira were at the sleepover, it would be stupid to call up Lisanna, Loki was on a date, so that left me with the one whose girlfriend was away on a girl's day in. Gray.

"Oiiii... bud! Come on up! We're besties, right?"

But Gray hung up on me.

"Cold..." I muttered. "Like ice, like his stripper partner Lloyd... damn him."

I called him again and apologized. "Dude, I'm lonely! All of my female friends are away, Loki sucks, and all I'm left is with you, depressing, low-lived, droopy eyes!"

"Real _inviting_ , _hothead_ ," he sighed over the phone.

"I thought insulting your friends in a friendly matter was attractive to said friend..."

" _It didn't really work, though. But since you're really pathetic, and you're crush is at a slumber party_ -"

"Shut up, Gray-"

"And _you have a lot of expensive video games, I'll come over. See you there in ten_."

And he hung up.

"Lucy has a name, you know!" I yelled at a blank end. I flopped on the kitchen chair and grumbled. Gray annoyed me, but he was okay. He was the closest thing I could get to a male best friend, even though we hated each other. A rival, I guess. But he wouldn't shut up about me liking- or something- Lucy, even though I think I don't(?)

"What even is a crush?" I asked out loud nobody in particular. Of course I knew what one was, just I hardly knew how you find out you have one.

 _Whatever, it's just Gray being the stupid Gray he is._

 **.**

Gray kept his word, even though he arrived five minutes later than he promised, but I let it slide. We skipped the introductions and moved the video games. We played a lot of first-person shooter games, and Gray kept relentlessly killing me.

"Dude! Both you and these games suck," he said.

"I don't care. Anyway, get some clothes on, pervert."

Gray looked down and sighed at his topless appearance. "It's a condition, by the way."

"In weird world," I remarked, walking into the living room from just getting some snacks from the kitchen.

"Where the hell did it go?" Gray yelled, making a mess of the living room. _That's Zeref's problem now_... I thought.

"What went were?" I asked.

"My shirt! Where the hell-"

"You're telling me you _lost your shirt_..." I emphasized the last part.

"Shut up and help me," the gloomy teenager grumbled. "It just... disappeared."

"Lucy'd make a good novel out of that. _The Haunted Shirt_... ooooh~" I eerily added.

"Lucy writes?" Gray asked, looking up at me.

My face burned with shame. "NO SHE DOESN'T," I said louder than usual. Gray rose an eyebrow, so I kept going: "LUCY'D AS IN 'LUCY WOULD...' LIKE HOW SHE CAN... BUT SHE WON'T..."

Gray stared at me with a puzzled face. "Okay... while you stick to you're grammatical and logical mistakes, can I borrow a shirt?"

"Not one of mine," I scoffed. "You'd either lose it or infect it with your jackass-germs."

"Sooo... I'd just wear one of Lucy's tops?" Gray sarcastically shot back.

"I'd like to see you in that, but I do have a brother, you know. We can just steal one of his shir-"

I was interrupted by the home phone ringing.

I picked it up, and a composed, professional woman answered. "Sir, this is the Magnolia Police Department."

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

"WHAAAT?" We all screamed at Levy after she revealed her secret to us.

"You kissed Gajeel?!" I cried, shaking her back and forth.

"Are you kidding me?" Screamed another girl excitedly, but I had no time to figure out who.

"How did it go down?" I demanded. "I need some romance garbage!"

"Alright, you crowd, settle down!" The small teen ordered. "Besides, it wasn't me who kissed him. He kissed me."

"THAT'S EVEN BETTER!" Yelled Mira.

"So?" Cana grinned, making her fingers crawl up Levy's neck. "Was it a peck or a full-on make-out?"

"Shut up Cana..." Levy said softly, blushing. "I have no experience! I don't know what to compare to! I do know that it was..." she trailed off.

"What?" We all coaxed.

Levy, embarrassed, looked down and covered the top of her head with a pillow, and whispered; "amazing..."

Mira squealed rather unnecessarily.

 _Is this some kind of 50's movie_? I thought.

"So how did it go down?" I asked.

"Well... we went out on a date.. and before he let me go home, he said goodbye... and.. things sorta trailed off, and next thing I knew, he was kneeling down and staring in my eyes," she finished dreamily.

"Awww~~ What sweet, romantic, fluffy shit everyone needs in their lives," sighed Cana.

We all started laughing at Cana's comment, and I heard my ringtone for Natsu in my backpack near Levy's nightstand.

"Sorry, gang, when anybody calls this late, it means someone was killed," I said, stepping over all the pillows to grab my phone. I answered outside of Levy's room.

"Hello-"

" _Luce_!" Natsu urgently said on the other end, and my heart skipped a beat. " _The police called_! _They have him_!"

"They what?" I hastily answered, even though I partially knew the answer.

" _They have Jose_!"

 **See you next month**!


	20. Chapter 19

**~| Lucy's POV : Monday : 3:00 :|~**

"What do you mean 'they got Jose?'" I panically whispered into the phone, with Natsu on the other end hyperventilating. I was sure I could hear someone yelling in the background, obviously freaking out.

" _They found him! In a Heartfilia Konzern factory! They did some research on him, and apparently when he left Oak Town, he went to Acalypha to work for your dad. Jose won't tell anything unless you're there, and they scheduled a meeting tomorrow_."

"Are you shitting me?" I yelled into the phone, rather loudly. Mrs. McGarden walked down to the hall, her white hair in curlers and her petite self in purple pajamas. She put her index finger to her lips, indicating that we must be quiet. I nodded in apology.

"What time?" I asked, softer now. "Where? Well, of course in the police department, but how will we do the meeting? What will we talk abou-"

" _Lucy_ ," Natsu's voice was suddenly soft and serious. " _I don't want you to go_."

I silenced myself immediately for a good thirty seconds. I saw Levy open the door and walk over to me with a concerned look on her face.

"Natsu, why?" I said calmly into my phone.

" _This guy tried to rape you! He tried to_ murder _Juvia, and hurt your best friend. He'll either try to do something else, or... or-_ "

"'Or', what, Natsu? He tried everything, and failed. They'll have him behind bars, or in a interrogation room. He won't get to me. He worked for my father, Natsu, I need to know what he knows, or else it'll get to me."

Natsu was silent. He replied after only a few moments. " _He knows things, Luce. He could reveal something about your dad you don't want to know— that you don't need to know. He'll get inside your head_."

"This is exactly what I'm going for. If he wants to talk to me, let him talk to me," I persuaded over the phone. Natsu waited another half a minute to respond.

" _Whatever_ ," he finally said. " _We'll discuss this when you get home_." He sighed. " _Enjoy your sleepover_ ," He coldly added.

He hung up.

I let the phone fall to my side. I fell to the ground on my knees, making Levy cry, "Lu-chan!" She caught me, though it didn't help. I breathed heavily into my friend's arms.

I heard my other friends enter the hall.

"We heard a thump and Levy-san's scream," said Wendy.

"Woah, there girl," said Cana, coming over to me to pat my back. "You okay?"

Something came over me, and it wasn't good. A wave of nausea travelled to my stomach, making me vomit on Levy's lovely white carpet. It didn't last long, but I knew I blew up this evening's snacks and pizza. I started crying, covering my face and stained mouth.

"L-Levy-chan!" I sobbed through my pajama sleeve. "I'm so s-sorry... Your beautiful carpet..."

"No, no no no," soothed Levy. "I don't care about the carpet, just what _happened_? You're totally freaking out."

"Levy-chan!" I cried. "You're-re such a g-g-good friend!"

I hid my face in embarrassment. Mrs. McGarden came over and cleaned up the mess I made without a word.

Mira brought me into the room, because of Levy's injury, supporting me along with Erza.

"Lucy-san," Wendy whispered in her kind, friendly, sweet voice. "What happened?"

"Did a family member die, or something?" Asked Mira, stroking my hair while Levy caressed my back. I kept sobbing into my hands, still upset about the puking and whatnot.

"Give her some time to breathe," said Cana, out of character, leaning against the door.

I weeped for another minute until I stopped until I finally stopped, and breathed for one other minute, with the occasional sob. "I'm fine," I said, shakily, heavily embarrassed. "I'm sorry, again, Levy-chan."

"Don't worry about it," she said, so comfortably. She hugged me around my neck, ignoring her wound.

"It's okay, now Lucy-san," spoke up Juvia. "Mrs. McGarden has finished cleaning. She says it is no trouble."

"That's g-good," I replied with a sob. "I got a phone call... from Natsu."

"What did he say, sweetheart?" Soothed Mira, now combing my hair.

"They caught Jose, my offender."

Wendy gasped, and Cana looked up. "The one who attempted to rape you, and Levy's attempted murderer?" She said.

"Yes," I whispered, shivering at the memory. "They caught him, Jose. He wants to speak with me. He worked with my father, and I think he knows something."

Levy's eyes grew wide. "Are you going?"

"Natsu tells me that it could get ugly."

"Huh?" Said Mira.

"Me and him got into an argument about whether I should go or not. He'd say something to upset me or something. Natsu hung up, saying that we'd discuss it tomorrow. Well... I guess it would be today," I added with a fake chuckle. "But he has no right to tell me not to go. Jose worked with my father, so there is something that my father hasn't told me yet."

"Natsu's just protecting you, honey," cooed Mira. I groaned.

"Mira, please stop. I don't need teasing or whatever."

"I'm saying this with no teasing intended. It _could_ be dangerous. I'm sorry to say, but I agree with Natsu. Maybe he could go and tell you the story."

"I don't know," I sighed. "I'll ask the officers if that is possible, but most likely Jose would want to talk to me, and me only."

 **.**

Mira gave me a ride home in the morning, at about 6:30.

"Sleepy?" She asked, still driving through the streets

I was rubbing my eyes and yawning. I also felt nervous for some reason, despite my fatigue; jumpy. Full of attention.

I looked at her through squinted eyes in the driver's seat. "Yeah... a lot of stuff is happening... and you know, we didn't sleep much." I didn't sleep at all. I was too frightened to. Jose's image before he was about to... do things, and when he was walking down the street with a knife in his hand; it was all too terrible to let pass. To comfort me before sunrise, I kept on letting Natsu's voice ward off the " _Scream and I'll stab you_ ," and the " _It's just beginning_ ". I still shivered. Natsu's voice helped, a lot. I remember when he explained that him and Gray rescued me, after I woke up from shock.

I leaned back into the seat of the car.

"What would you do in a situation similar to this one?" I asked Mira.

Mira stared at the road in silence, eyebrows down and lips pursed. "That's a toughie... I'd possibly let the police tell me what the offender said, but I guess that wouldn't work if he only would want to talk to me. I guess I'd just let him talk to me, in a secure room, with guards; him hand-cuffed to the table, or chair, if the officers would prefer. Laxus'd be by my side, guarding me if things got scary."

I looked out the window. "That's nice..." I murmured. "Having someone... who truly cares about you to be by your side... protecting you."

My mind flashed back to the night in the hospital when Natsu hugged me. I was totally scared, I could hardly make out his words. I acted like it was fine, but in truth, I was blinded by the truthful fear I witnessed. It's not easy- having a rapist who wants to murder your friends.

Mira grinned. "It is nice. I hope you find that someday, too."

I waited for a few moments. "Not gonna tease me about 'Lucy! You _have_ found it! In the dense, unromantic, idiot who lives with you!' You know, you always tease me about Natsu."

Mira chuckled. "You _now_ want me to state the obvious?"

I sighed, and put my hands to my face. "I don't know!" I said loudly, muffled by my hands. "I'm having trouble, Mira... I just... I just need someone by my side— or something." I dropped my hands into my lap and groaned. "This sucks."

Mira put her hand on my shoulder, while stopping in front of the Dragneels'.

"You'll figure it out, honey."

I left the car along with my sleeping bag and clothing without saying a simple 'goodbye,' or 'thank you.'

 **.**

I waited in the living room for Natsu to wake up. I decided that he made the choice to stay home from school and sleep in. We would possibly see Jose, after all.

I spent time browsing on what's new on my phone. Natsu had recently invited me to a _Discord_ server for the OFTOC club, telling us of news and upcoming events. Lisanna announced that she was now dating Bixlow, and that her older brother, Elfman, was now working as an engineer, and left Magnolia Academy. The Connell family was moving away to the capital, Fiore.

Even though I've only been there a day ago, I only spent so much time there. I felt distant, like they weren't my family- my friends anymore. I felt annoyed, irritated, frustrated. Lonely, on top of all. I finished off my gloomy time on the living room couch with a quick read of a chapter of _Fruits Basket_. Natsu came downstairs and sighed, sitting down on the table behind me.

I was lying down on the couch, and it had quite a tall backrest, so I didn't think he saw me. I thought I could probably listen to see if he ever did anything different when he was alone like this. I listened, and I couldn't hear anything.

Probably he dropped his spoon or fork or whatever he was using to eat. I heard a _clang_! going on behind me.

"Damn it..." mumbled Natsu; but he sounded different. Not like himself. His voice was soft and sort of cracked. I realized that he was sobbing.

"Natsu?" I spoke up.

I looked over the couch, and Natsu jumped back, bumping into a chair and knocking it over. I was right. Natsu's eyes were bloodshot and tear stains lingered on his cheeks.

He whipped his head around from the chair to me, his face turning from puzzled, to downright terrified.

"How-... How did you?!" He pointed at me, his eyes dancing with shock and unfallen tears.

"Don't worry! I was here since you came down! I'm not a ghost or anything," I persuaded, half chuckling. I walked over to the frightened boy, but he backed away, and quickly wiped his eyes with his long-sleeved, green t-shirt.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, trying to keep my voice soothing.

"None of your business!" said Natsu in falsetto. He picked the spoon back up, and sat back down, eating his food quickly.

"Natsu," I said softly. "I want to talk about Jose."

Natsu turned away his face from me and covered it with the back of his hand.

"I was afraid you would say that..."

"Natsu-"

"I don't want you to go," he simply stated, looking back at me. "Seriously, Luce, something bad'll happen. He could hurt you, mentally scar you, reveal something he shouldn't—" the rest trailed off.

 _That's it_... I looked up, and from the very pit of my stomach, I did something I didn't know I would do. "Uuuuuuugggghhhhhhhh..." I groaned, interrupting his rant. Loudly. "Natsu! I'm so sick of this!"

Natsu switched his serious face with a puzzled look.

I continued. "I'm tired of this! I _really_ do _not_ want to argue about this in a way that looks like a scene from a drama on Channel 5! I am going, I want to know about my father! I want to know about my father's business! I want to know what Jose wants to say! I'm fed up with this act of tragedy, from some cheesy Hollywood movie picked up on the side of the street! You would not understand, since you never rightfully owned a business, and have it ripped away from you because you can't drink a glass of wine, because you can't get married, because you can't involve yourself with someone! I'm not a child, but you wouldn't know that!

"I am _not_ someone who would just let a chance slip away from their fingers, I am _not_ someone who would sit by and let this information drift away like some piece of rotted wood! So I am _not_ going to let this happen! I am going, and you can come with or not, but I am _going_! because I am not a spoiled little princess who lives in the _oh so rich_ city of Acalypha, in a mansion, eating caviar, begging for her father's never-gonna-get attention, and rejecting any true friend!"

There was a long silence. I breathed rapidly. Natsu stared in shock.

I continued, but this time I whispered. You could barely even hear me, but in this silence, you could hear a feather drop.

"I don't care if something happens that I will regret... How the hell am I supposed to find out?

"I'm going," I said once more, speaking up. "I'm going to get ready."

And that's what I did. I went up to my room, but before getting ready, I fell on my bed, face-first, and groaned in disgust with myself.

"What the fuuuuuuuuu—-" I didn't finish the word. I said enough frustrating things today.

My face burned, and I was sure I would light the bed spread on fire with my blush. _I cannot_ believe _you said all of that to him_! Yelled my voice of reason. _I broke_... I said back.

VOR: _You didn't NEED to_.

Me: _He's gonna be devastated_... I'm _gonna be devastated the rest of my life... I really like him, and I said all that to his face... I'm going to die a virgin—_

VOR: _Damn right, bitch. Now get ready and head down like nothing ever happened_.

I got up and put on something that would hide EVERYTHING even though it's really warm outside. You know, he tried to rape me. I would cover up.

I got downstairs, and Natsu unexpectedly ran over and hugged me.

"WUH-" I gasped in his t-shirt.

He pushed me back by my shoulders and grinned. "Alrighty! Let's go! Let's learn about your dad!"

He rushed out the door, leaving me alone.

I stared back at him, most possibly a blank look covering my face.

Natsu came back to the door probably 10 seconds after.

"Ya coming? If you're not, the dude's gonna kill me."

"Y-yeah..." I stammered, finally realizing this could be the day that would change my life. "I'm coming."

 **.**

I didn't speak the whole ride. I was tense, nervous, and on the brink of exploding. Natsu glanced to the left at me, and put his hand on my tense one.

He only grinned at me for reassurance without speaking, which made my heart jump out of my chest, and leaving me breathless and warm.

Of course, I stopped it as soon as it came, the blush, the lack of oxygen. This wasn't the time to get flustered over the boy I like, I knew this all too well, since I was a mile towards something that would possibly change my life.

We finally arrived at the dreaded prison. I clasped my hands into fists and kept them awkwardly at my side. I took a huge breath and stared at the entrance, an uninviting double glass door pair.

"Nervous?" Asked Natsu.

"Of course I am..." I answered without looking at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Do you want me to go in with you?"

I whipped my head to the side. "You weren't going to in the first place?"

"Well.. I just thought that as someone who never got their business ripped from themselves just because they were too young, and this was their only chance to regain some kind of information to regain their reputation as 'not a spoiled little princess,' I wouldn't understand. But I guess you do need a man by your side like a cheesy Hollywood movie..."

I blushed furiously from start to finish of his small recitation of my embarrassing monologue. "That's not what I meant..."

Natsu took my hand again. "That's okay. Let's walk in together."

I squeezed his hand and walked into the depressing lobby.

"Um... we're here for the visit private visit of Porla Jose..." I said to the woman working at the desk.

She had dark blue eyes, and shuffling furiously at the papers. Her wavy blue hair was is a messy bun held back by gold, silver, and blue jewel headband that matched her blue earrings, and on her navy blue office blazer was a golden name tag, "Aquarius."

She looked up through frameless, clean glasses. "Name? I could get some details."

"Lucy Heartfilia..."

"Ahh.. the chick who almost got raped and murdered. You sure you should be here?" She said. "You're offender is only twenty steel-based walls away."

"Umm... yes. And it was my best friend who almost got murder-"

"Anyways, you need to follow my boyfriend here, Scorpio, and he'll wake Jose an' get you to a interrogation room." She turned to a intercom, pressed the button and spoke into it. "Sweetie~~" her voice changed dramatically. "Heartfilia-kun is here~~ She wants to see Jose, she has the appointment."

After only ten seconds, a good-looking man with red and white hair in a officer's uniform entered. His name tag was carved with the name "Scorpio."

He came over and hugged Aquarius. Aquarius kept mumbling romantic words while Scorpio winked and me and Natsu.

I realized that Natsu was still holding my hand, so I quickly retracted it and stepped away, blushing furiously. Natsu looked a little hurt.

Scorpio let go of Aquarius and led us through a door to the right. We walked down a white painted hall with black marble tiles below us, passing the occasional office.

"Ahh.." sighed Scorpio. "Young love is great. You two are collage students, right? That's the best time... looking for marriage, spending the nights in each other's dorms...-"

"We're not-" I interrupted, embarrassed.

"- a couple," finished Natsu, equally flustered.

"Tell that the hand-holding earlier," teased Scorpio, laughing. "Me and Aquarius understand. We were once like that, awkward and young."

I sighed, thinking it was useless to explain why he took my hand.

We went through more rooms, and finally we arrived at a gray room cut in half by a large pane of glass. On the other side of the glass was two chairs and a table with handcuffs scattered idly on the other chair, facing the table.

"It's really cold in here..." I remarked.

"And eerie.." Natsu added.

"You two wait here on this side of the glass. I'll be right back," said Scorpio, going through a door in the glass and through another one.

"There's too many doors here..." said I, staring around at the room. The one me and Natsu were in wasn't empty, but had a big metal control table blocking off some of the glass, with a leather spinny chair.

"Just like in the movies," said Natsu.

I nodded while I stared at the chair.

After a minute of silence and just... standing there, out come of the door Scorpio, two fellow guards, one woman and one man, both leading Jose in prison clothing by his handcuffed wrists.

Every time I saw Jose it made me want to puke, but with his long purple hair frizzled and unkempt, his face bruised, and his clothing stained with sweat and possibly vomit, I couldn't resist the urge to look away in fear.

The guards seated him on the chair and tied his hands to the table.

The guards opened the steel door and led me and Natsu in. I stared at the once-glass pane, but now it was a wall of black.

"You..." Jose groaned in a groggy and low voice at Natsu. "You hurt me..."

"Any _you_ hurt Lucy," shot back Natsu with an unrelenting stare.

"You two can sit down," said Scorpio.

We did so, and I stared with difficulty at Jose.

With both courage and fear, I spoke up first: "So? What do you want to tell me?"

Eyes wide, Jose looked around the room in distress. "Lose the guards and the boy," he commanded, making eye contact with Scorpio.

"No can do, creep," Scorpio responded. "We can't let anything happen to the girl."

"I'm okay," I spoke up. "You guys can watch through the glass."

I was terrified, but I was equally determined to get information out of Jose.

"I'm staying," said Natsu.

My heart leapt, I can't lie, but I told him to leave.

As they exited into the other room, I felt completely alone; besides Jose of course. But that did not help at all. It gave me a sense of horror. My instincts told me to get out of there, but he was securely strapped to the table by metal cuffs, not to mention he looked still, besides his eyes sparking with madness.

"Are you going to do anything to me?" I asked after a moment's silence.

Jose frowned. "They can see us through that wall over there," he gestured to the one-way glass with his head. "And these are pretty tough to break out of, so no way, princess."

I sighed and began. "Once again I ask you, 'what do you want to tell me?'"

 **~| Natsu's POV |~**

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said, looking at the nervous Lucy and Jose with his eyes popping.

"Don't worry, kid," said Scorpio. "Your girlfriend's completely safe. We got the guards near the door and are ready to get in if the dude makes a move."

I grimaced and turned back to the window. The voices blared through the speaker until they finally got to the real conversation.

"Once again I ask you," said Lucy. "'What do you want to tell me?'"

Jose grinned, making me even more uncomfortable. "You wanna learn about your dad, right? His business, his plans for me..." he spoke this in a groggy, possibly drunken voice.

"Heh!" He continued, in an octave higher. "Your father is a strange man, I must stay, his constant changing of mind, the way he never talks about his late wife, or you."

"I already know this," said Lucy. "I just don't know what he had to do with you."

"Is he still talking about me? How's his business?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucy responded. A silence filled both rooms.

"He died. Some kind of unknown illness killed him."

Jose stared at Lucy, leaving a even longer wordless period.

"'Bout time," he finally responded, adding a chuckle to almost every word. "The man was coughing up a storm last time I saw him! He looked like he could collapse on the spot! I didn't think he'd last that long... eh, whatever to hell. I'ma tell you now... I hated 'im until he gave you to me."

Lucy squinted, and I tensed. "What do you mean, 'gave me to you?'"

"He wanted me to marry you. Crazy intent, I know... but your old man in't as kind as you thought... you know, as cruel as he may have been at home, he was twice as scary at the factories... the trading areas, the meetings... He would yell at me, and my partners, and he demanded a business bonding to him and mine."

"He... what?"

"You see... 'ittle missy, I had a dream, a workshop, a gorgeous business that could change the world. A run-down high school teacher to a entrepreneur to your dad. He gave you up to me, though never told you, for about a year."

Lucy's face was struck with shock and confusion. "What? That's... ridiculous! Father would never engage me with someone behind my back."

"That's where you're wrong," Jose continued. "Jude grew overly attached to me with my ideas and business ideas, tradings and all.. and purposed a marriage between his best friend," he grinned. "And his gorgeous daughter of sixteen. He wanted to wait two years until you could move to America with me to expand the business, not even caring about the receiving end of the blow, saying you'd be fine and all."

"You're lying..."

"That's What you think... Your father is a cruel man, missy. He wouldn't hesitate to kill his own wife. He planned to, you know, though she died of cancer a week before! Filling the empty void in his heart, he searched for more money."

Lucy stared, her face growing white. "My mom? Marriage... money..."

"I have proof!" Jose screamed, his eyes growing wide.

The guards at the door tensed, but Scorpio gave no command.

"I have a certificate! I was going to sign it at his office in Acalypha! I went after that bitch Juvia, who dared to run away from me after meeting me once more! I told her this! I told her all of this, but she would never listen! I loved her, you see!"

Lucy let her head sink down to her chest.

"She gave up on me! Rejected me! I killed her, in my dreams, and in real life! But the goddamn wretch survived! She refused to die! The only way to make you marry me besides force was to get you to sign it! The first option was wonderful... your face of fear, your eyes of regret, the whimpers of pity.. It was all as good has having you around for me. Could you imagine? Having a voluptuous, gorgeous blonde wife who would stay with you every night? Listen to whatever you'd like? I had enough information all in one face of terror to fantasize about such things... "

Lucy put her hands to her ears.

Words formed in my mouth, I couldn't stop them. "Stop it..." I murmured.

"After she survived, the immortal fiend, Juvia, I needed you! Once again! My second option to fill the void in my heart that money cannot bestow!"

His cackling blared over the speakers, and started to buzz with feedback.

"I said ' _Stop it_!' _You son of a bitch_!" I yelled, punching the manual board.

I ran over to the door, the guards opening the door to retrieve Jose.

I headed over to Lucy, who was shaking with shock. I lead her out the door in silence.

 **.**

Going home wasn't easy. It was not heavy traffic or any accidents, just the silence was so heavy it felt like it was burrowing into me.

I knew better than to speak to Lucy. She was looking out the window with her shoulders sloped, hands poised and on her knees, with perfect posture, but whenever I'd glance at her hands, I could see them shaking. I knew for a while that Lucy was the type to not admit any weakness until necessary.

We reached my house in a half an hour, but it seemed like five times longer. When I parked my car in the driveway, I awkwardly looked at Lucy and said, "We're here..."

Lucy nodded, and exited the car without looking at me. I started to unlock the front door on the porch, but I felt a hand on my back. I looked behind me to see Lucy with an unbearably pained look on her face.

"Natsu..." she whispered, leaning on my back with both hands gripping at my t-shirt, her forehead at the nape of my neck.

My pulse increased dramatically, and I just stood there with my key in the lock and my hands on the doorknob.

I felt Lucy sobbing. "I'm s-sorry..."

I froze up, and turned my eyes once again to the blonde head, shaking from crying.

"I was re-really scared..." she whispered between soft sobs. "Jose... with his eyes. My dad..."

I turned, making Lucy take a step back from me, and I knelt down slightly to meet her eyes directly.

"Luce, you know hardly any of that is true," I blatantly stated.

Lucy's red, puffy eyes were streaming tears and her bangs were messed up, but I put my arms around her anyway.

"Jose is a just a bastard on drugs trying to get into his enemy's daughter's head. He's a creep who'd love to murder people and go after pretty girls, meaning he's nothing but a sad coward with nowhere to run to."

Lucy cried more into my chest, held back, but still caused my chest to tighten.

"I'm sor-ry for crying... d-dragging you-ou into this... this is really... stupid..."

I held her tight even though she tried to pull away.

"N-Natsu," she said, her voice a bit groggy, but more full of life. "Care to let g-go?"

I chuckled and ruffled her hair, letting go. "Atta girl," I grinned, but in truth my pulse was going haywire.

I finally unlocked the door with Lucy behind me. She requested I faced away from her because of her crying face.

What I walked into wasn't something I expected, although I walked into some _pretty_ weird things: Zeref chanting something to the stove while glazing ham, a weird blonde teenager staring very focused at a banana in the center of the hall, the ever so-famous cult circle burning bananas with spinny chairs, even a sumo-wrestling match— but this was weird.

Zeref was lying on the couch with his arms to his face, and men I often saw at the cult-gathering were busy trashing my living room, flipping coffee tables and ripping up pillows. Zeref didn't seem to like it, because he was chanting angrily through his robe-sleeved arms.

"What the-" said Lucy, and getting interrupted with a pillow smashing into her face.

"What the hell is going on, Zeref?" I finished for her.

Zeref swiftly swung his right arm off of his left into a gesture of an outstretched index finger, signaling me to be silenced.

Zeref waited a small bit then removed his left arm from his face and sat straight up without bending his body, resembling a zombie.

He turned his head to the two men wrecking havoc, and yelled, "JEAN, RYU, GET OUT." His voice loud, but calm.

The men immediately freezed in the middle of their running around in a circle. They stared at Zeref, now glaring at all around the room.

The men whimpered and ran out of the house through the front door.

"What..."

"The..."

"Hell?"

Me and Lucy said, taking turns.

 **Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!**


	21. Chapter 20

**~| Natsu's POV : Monday : 16:00 :|~**

"What..."

"The..."

"Hell?"

Asked me and Lucy, taking turns.

Zeref walked calmly towards us and put his hands on both of our shoulders. I glanced over at his pale, white hand on my left shoulder, making a sour face.

"Brother, Heartfilia-san," he said. "I am afraid to announce that I have bad people on my tail. This was a minor issue," he gestured to the room, completely in ruins. "But there will be more consequences from my enemies. Apparently they are angry with my decision to cut out all bananas from their diet because of my recent discovery of bananas' high source of sugar, and has been the reason of my late night wonderings."

There was silence. I slowly turned my head to my best friend, and she was doing the same. With puzzled and confused faces, we both turned back to Zeref, now calmly and mechanically picking up pillow-feathers, we said unison, "Pardon?"

"I realized I do not like bananas because of the sugar indose causes in me," simply explained Zeref. "Now my followers have turned against me."

"Because of bananas..." said Lucy.

"They went bananas?" I finished.

"Yes," said Zeref. "There could be worse punishments than threatening to kill my girlfriend and brother, breaking and entering to tear up my living room, or calling the police on me."

"What?" Yelped Lucy, shocked.

"Girlfriend?" I asked.

"You have seen her, right Brother? Short, flat-chested, long blonde hair. She visited once. Her name is Mavis."

"Right... that one girl from the hall..." I said, my mind flashing back.

"Anyway— Kill?" Lucy interrupted. "What the hell? This is serious! They are threatening to _end_ the lives of the people you love! Aren't you fazed by that, Zeref?"

"I have to say I am not. The only threat is Mard Geer, who is a very loyal servant to me. He will never betray me, and will only kill on my command. The others, however, are not powerful enough to kill and get away with it. You mustn't worry."

After arguing for a little too much time, Lucy was finally convinced to trust me with protecting her.

"It'll be fine," I reassured her.

She glanced back into my eyes, and nodded silently with a grimace.

We moved on to cleaning the rooms, and me and Lucy went to the closet for the brooms. Lucy hesitantly went for a broom, zoning out. She took the one I was going for, so I ended up holding the top of her hand.

Lucy narrowed her eyebrows. "Natsu, let go."

But I didn't. I held on to it, staring at our overlapping hands, zoning out and thinking about Jose.

I glanced back at Lucy, who was glaring at me.

"What?" I nervously asked.

Lucy cocked her head back and pried my hand off of hers. She hurried back to the living room and started to sweep up feathers.

"You're very emotional today," she stated. "It's out of character."

My face fell. "What do you want me to do about it?"

She looked up and pondered. She finally looked back at me and said, "Say something Natsu-y."

I searched my brain for something "Natsu-y", which wasn't very hard. Only about a half-a second later, I stated, "Your boobs look bigger. Did you gain weight recently?"

Lucy's face changed into a blushing mess, and immediately hit me on the head, hard, with the broom.

"HEY! What was that for!?" I yelled. I looked over behind the giant broom, to see Lucy smiling, eyes lit and face soft. Her head tilted to the side, avoiding my gaze.

"Thanks," she said, me barely hearing her.

My heart warmed over her look and soft words.

 **~| Lucy's POV |~**

We finally finished cleaning the living room, and I plopped down on the couch, recollecting the horrifying and exhausting day me and Natsu had. Of course, it wasn't a delightful experience. I started to sort out all the things that Jose said and confirming I knew if they were true or not, I found that one stuck out in my mind especially; I knew that my dad would never plan to kill my mom, but why would Jose bring up something risky a lie like that? To get into my head? Have me lose faith in my father? If so, the thought of it seemed so trivial. My dad was already dead, and Jose would know that I wasn't such a idiot to believe such a far stretch as that. Jose may be hinting at something, or else either during the questioning he'd be lying as a whole, or it would be true. The last explanation was the last resort for me.

Natsu could possibly see my crunched, focused expression, so he left the room to leave me to think.

I thought it over for a while, until I came to a theory that requires a lot of outside help, but could solve what Jose was trying to tell me: that he was giving false information from my father.

"AH HA!" I triumphantly exclaimed, bolting up into an up-right position, but my spirits were lost as quickly as they came.

Natsu popped his head through the hall, and stared with a questioning look.

"Luce?" He finally said. "What's up?"

I fell back into the couch cushion, accidentally collecting all of the unpleasant memories of Jose's haunting face, shrill voice, his very words that shook me. It wasn't a surprise, of course, since his words were undeniably terrifying:

" _The first option was wonderful... your face of fear, your eyes of regret, the whimpers of pity.. It was all as good has having you around for me. Could you imagine? Having a voluptuous, gorgeous blonde wife who would stay with you every night? Listen to whatever you'd like? I had enough information all in one face of terror to fantasize about such things..._ "

I memorized it unwillingly, with his voice as a high, crackly tone, not stopping no matter how much my mumbles of quotes from my favorite anime characters hopelessly fought the repeating, dreaded sentences. The geeky distractions didn't work to ward off Jose's voice, but Natsu's repeating pleas of me to "Snap out of it!" surely helped.

A exclamation of "Luce!" and a look of rejoice on his face was Natsu's reaction when I stopped murmuring and looked up at him.

His strong hands gripped my tensed shoulders in a panicked manner, shaking me back and forth. He was kneeling down on one knee in front of the couch, looking up at me through worried, glazed over eyes.

"Natsu?" I said.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lucy! You came through... I saw you curl up into a ball and let out a little squeal... I came over and you spent a good five minutes reciting lines from a whole bunch of shounen anime series..."

I stared at him. _Five minutes? I'm sure it wasn't that long_...

I glanced over to my right and saw Zeref mumbling something on the phone.

"Is... everything okay?" I asked, turning back to Natsu.

Natsu put his hands back down.

"I don't know, but Zeref says he wants to talk to us. He says it's important, or something."

Natsu sat down next to me, refraining from putting his arm around me, like he usually does.

"You doin' okay?" He asked after a minute.

I exhaled slowly. "I'm doing better after you woke me up from zoning out... that helped to see you so reassuring."

I turned to face him, smiling.

"Thank you."

Natsu scrunched up his face. "Am I not usually realluring?"

I turned my face and burst out in a series of small chuckles. _He said it wrong_...

"What? What did I say?" He panically asked.

"Your face... and is 'realluring' really a word?" I said between laughs.

I turned back to him, his face still in a flurry of confusion.

I kept giggling at his face until it turned into a soft, focused expression. He broke up into a grin and leaned closer to my face.

"It's nice to see you laugh after a while..."

My heart rate increased.

"You love to do the forehead-touch thing, don't you...?" I stated.

Natsu's eyes grew unusually wide, and his forehead left mine while he pulled back with a look of embarrassment.

"Since when?!" He yelped.

I decided not to mention that time at the festival, and the time we shared a bed.

I shrugged. "You're unpredictably romantic at times, I see," I said with flare, but without thinking.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked back, his face returning to his normal expression.

Zeref finally got off the phone with a "humph!" He tramped over angrily and sat himself in front of me and Natsu on a stool.

"Where did that come from-" I started to ask, but I was interrupted by Zeref's announcement,

" _Apparently_ the police are after me! Ryu, that bastard, fulfilled his threat to call the police on me from my illegal start of a official cult, and a religion. I was unaware that there were laws and standards over something over something so strangely touchy. Be aware that things will possibly get difficult around here. That is all, so you may continue your activities as usual, just don't get to attached... to here..."

Zeref left the room, fuming with a straight face.

"He's calm even when he's angry," I commented.

Natsu nodded silently with a frightened look on his face.

I sat there with my head on his shoulder, my mind still focused on fixing the mystery of Jose. An idea sparked in my head, and I looked up to Natsu to discuss it. I could only guess that he was looking at me while I was thinking, because I ended up staring him dead-end in the face, while our noses only inches apart.

Instead of backing or looking away, flushing, or even averting my eyes, I instinctually stayed in his gaze for a few seconds.

Natsu's face was relaxed, but focused, and staring down at my eyes from only a few inches, with his own eyes half open. He, after a few seconds, gave up on our staring-contest, quickly turned his head and started scrambling through his words.

I, however, was still staring in awe at the back of his head, silent, and forgetful of what I was about to say. Out of no wisdom of speech, I totally went blank and said the first thing that came to mind after a short period of time: "Your eyes are not really black, are they? They have green in them..."

Natsu was tense, and rather distant, but when he heard my words, he turned his head towards me and said, "Really?"

"You never knew?" I responded.

"No, not really... but now that I think about it, whenever I get angry, my eyes turn a yellow-ish green.. which may be connected to my real eye color.."

"They do?" I asked. "I've never heard of someone's eyes turning to a new color when they get angry. I only know about anime characters with color-changing eyes to suppress emotion.. Is that based off real life?"

Natsu shrugged.

"Hey," he said. "Speaking of anime, want to continue the binge of _Shingeki no Kyojin_? I've finished season two already with Gray, but I can restart it."

"Gray was here?" I asked.

"Yeah. Did you hear him on the phone last night? He was totally freaking out."

 _The phone call_... I thought. _I don't have any pleasant memories of the phone call_.

"Oh!" I covered my reaction to the unpleasant memories with a laugh. "So _he_ was the one screaming in the background."

"Yup! I feel like that idiot was more freaked out about Jose than both of us combined," said Natsu.

His mood changed from his happy one from earlier, like he was as concerned about our fight as I was.

After a moment of unwanted silence, I finally spoke up about our dreaded subject.

"Natsu... I'm sorry about the way I acted with Jose, the way I burst out into an _embarrassing_ spree of talking about how I'm not _this_ or how or relationship isn't like _that_ , and... well...-"

"Luce," said Natsu, grinning. "I was happy about how you spoke like that to me. I was acting way more out of hand than you. I didn't think that you were as strong as you are, so I'm really sorry for thinking that way, and how I thought I had to protect you. But, you know, you can protect yourself. It was really cool how you were really strong back at the prison."

"I wasn't, though... I was falling apart-"

"And most people will. But I discovered that you just tripped. While most people would possibly fall into a depression, or try to forget, you got back up to being the awesome, really funny girl who wouldn't hesitate to whack a kid twice her physical strength on the head with a broom."

I grinned, possibly too wide, because I made Natsu burst out in laughter.

"What?" I kept asking him, still grinning, making Natsu laugh harder.

"Your smile..." he kept giggling. "Is really honest... and bright..."

"Shut up!" I said, still smiling like a lovestruck idiot. "I know you're lying! Why the hell are you still laughing?"

Natsu calmed down. "Because you make me really happy, Luce."

 **.**

I followed Natsu down the hall into his room to continue the marathon of _Shingeki no Kyojin_ , completely silent. But that was only me. Natsu, on the other hand, was chattering away like a stoned monkey. He was joyful and talkative all throughout our early dinner and beforehand, after he told me I made him happy, like his own statement effected his positivity.

I couldn't help but smile all throughout dinner and afterwards because of Natsu's stupid statement, so half the time he'd see me as a grinning idiot munching on his home-made fried rice.

"We were on the.. sixteenth episode?" Asked Natsu, entering the room with me closely following.

"Fourteenth," I answered.

The grinning teenager put the CD in the player, and gleefully hopped on the bed next to me.

We watched all throughout season 1 without making a peep, besides the sarcastic gasps when the surprising moments happened.

We finally ended the entertaining streak when the clock struck 22:30. A huge wave of panic swept over me when I realized that my mind would go over things with Jose if I was alone even for a minute. When Natsu got up to retract the CD from the player, I already felt like a weight has been dropped on my heart.

I didn't do anything. I sat there with a blank, but horrified expression on my face, sitting criss-cross on the edge of the bed, my mind already falling into the clutches of Jose's words.

Natsu noticed something was wrong, and turned his head towards me.

"Luce?" He said, kneeling down to my height while I was on the bed.

"Are you okay? You seem pale..-"

"Natsu," I said, looking down. "Don't freak out to what I'm about to say..."

Natsu tilted his head, but I stayed silent, biting my lip.

"Luigi~~" he sang. "Anybody home?" He lightly rapped on my head with his fist.

 _Heh... he hasn't called me that in a while_... I thought with a chuckle.

"If you're not gonna say anything and just laugh like that like an insane person, then I'm gonna get a snack. Want anythi-"

I interrupted his sentence and stride to the door by getting up and tugging on his shirt.

Natsu stared at the sudden hand behind him, and made a face.

"Luce..?"

I inhaled with difficulty, and spoke the words, "Can I sleep here tonight?"

I waited a while. Maybe it was the embarrassing request, or it was the stress of this whole mystery on top of me, or maybe it was the full-on fatigue of no sleep last night plus the discovery and a long clean-up afterwards, but this long silence lasted _forever_ , and I refused to think that it was nothing that made it long, but it was long in itself.

I shut my eyes and let go of Natsu's shirt and folded my arms to wait for Natsu's response.

The boy turned towards me and made a face of delight.

"I was actually going to suggest that," he said without effect.

I looked up from my ashamed sulk into his large, black-green eyes. "Really?... Why?"

"You know... all that has happened lately, plus the chances of a _possible_ raid by the international police— I wouldn't want you to be alone for a whole night."

I stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to say, and Natsu filled the silence for me.

"It won't be a big deal, since we shared a bed before, and I've seen you naked!" Cheerfully said Natsu, laughing with his arms crossed.

I quickly covered my clothed chest in shock. "You've WHAT?"

"Zeref set up cam-" He stopped, his eyes growing wide.

"HUH?"

"NOTHING!" The flustered boy yelled. "NOTHING! IT... IT WAS FOR SECURITY! HE SENT ME A PICTURE!"

"GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!" I yelled back, clawing for his pockets.

Natsu stopped me with a palm to my forehead.

"For what?!" He nervously continued.

"The picture! Just give me it!" I kept begging.

"I deleted it! _AND_ I forced Zeref to take the cameras down!" He proudly stated, his expression changing. "Aren't I the best?"

I swiftly ducked from his hold on my forehead, swiped his phone, and stomped on it all in one quick move.

Panting, I turned to face Natsu. I nervously recapped what I done in my head, and I guiltily said, "Technology breaks us apart anyways...-"

 **.**

"Natsu! I said I'm sorry, like, a thousand times!"

Natsu silently lay on the other side of his bed, sulking in his red pillows. "I had so much stuff on there... I downloaded the whole thing of _Fairy Tail_ , and that's like, 500 chapters, or something..."

"You can transfer it. The screen is only not working."

Natsu shot up and yelled, "Why did you _NOT_ tell me that a, like, an hour ago?"

It was true. The period of not talking to me lasted a half an hour of me taking a bath, brushing my teeth, and preparing myself to not explode while sleeping in the same bed as the guy I really like.

"I don't know..." I murmured.

Natsu narrowed his eyebrows at me, and stuffed his face back into the pillows.

"Damn you for not telling me... and for smushing my phone into smithereens..."

"What can I do to make it up to you," I calmly asked.

Natsu shot up once again. "How aaa-bout! Strip poker!"

"Not strip poker," I sighed.

Natsu pouted. "I don't know any good punishments. I'll tell you when I think of one."

I shrugged. "Fine. I'm going to try to sleep, then."

I snuggled down against the wall the bed was against on my left and breathed into the red pillow my head lay on.

 _It smells like Natsu_... Was my lingering thought.

Indeed it did. Having the smell of yogurt, cinnamon, and wood combined was the smell of Natsu. I liked yogurt, so it seems like everybody smells like it to me.

I was almost dozing off, until Natsu dropped his fist on his palm-upward hand.

"I got it! I know what I want your punishment to be!"

I got out of my comfortable position to an upright sitting posture.

"What?" I simply asked.

Natsu grinned. "Teach me what love is."

I stared at the rather innocent face of Natsu, mine growing hotter. _What...? WHAT? IS THIS SERIOUS? DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THIS STUFF?_

My face practically lit on fire with my mental questioning.

 _We're in bed together, there could be mutual attraction, and Natsu was asking for a_ punishment _, so it could only make sense if.. he.. meant_...

My eyes widened, and I asked again, with my face burning, but forcefully straight, "What?"

"Mira keeps telling me about being in love, liking people, and various things like that. Girls freak out about 'crushes', and liking boys. They always seem to gossip about that kind of stuff, and I don't know what all the hype is about. Igneel never talked to be about that stuff, and Zeref's description just flew over my head. You're smart, so tell me."

 _Oh, thank God_...

I breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately realized I had no right to. I have no idea how to explain love to this dense idiot whom I happen to have feelings for.

"Um... You see.. when two people find out... stuff they... uh.." I ended up mumbling incoherent sentences, much to Natsu's annoyance.

"Don't tell me that you're a shoujo genre fan and don't know what love is," said he.

I huffed. "First, I didn't ever _officially_ label myself as a 'shoujo genre fan', and secondly, I _do_ know what love is, just I've never gotten a chance to explain it."

Natsu crossed his arms.

"Disappointment..."

I glared at his face matching his own recent word, obviously trying to get me to spill whatever I had in me. It worked.

"Fine!" I exclaimed. "I'll try to explain what love is. But first, why are you so suddenly curious?"

Natsu perked his ears like a dog. Not exactly like a dog, but they moved back, much to my surprise.

"No reason..." Natsu looked away.

I stared at the back of his salmon head, and gave up.

"Here goes... I apologize in advance if I give you a wrong idea, or if I embarrass myself, causing a colossal explosion in South Africa."

"What?"

"Nothing!" I quickly recovered. "So..." I inhaled. "I guess what love is, is you feel comfortable with somebody. You trust them, and you hold them close in your heart. I consider love to consist in three categories, family love, platonic love, and romantic love. Family love is love you share with.. well.. your family. You look up to older siblings, you look out for others. You trust relatives, you know a lot about them, and after possibly three years from not seeing each other, you still get along with them. You can always look up to your parents, ask them questions, and spend time with them. Parents.. well... I knew my mom well, and I loved her. She looked out for me, gave me what I needed, and smiled whenever I needed it most. I guess parental love is my favorite.."

I smiled softly at the memories of my mother, forgetting that Natsu was there.

He finally broke the silence with a warm comment of,

"Just like Igneel cared for me."

I looked over to the boy; he was smiling. I held his gaze for not too long, though looking down was a chore.

"She died, didn't she. Your mom?" Asked Natsu.

"Yeah... I guess I never officially told you that. I think Jose did, though." I chuckled half-heartedly.

I inhaled while Natsu said, "Tell me more."

I continued.

"Platonic love is love you have for your friends. You love spending time with them, and always look forward to hanging out with them. You have fun, talk about things, they can comfort you when you're upset, and look out for you in hard times.

"Most people can confuse romantic love for the other two, but it's completely different. It's with only one person. Your heart beats really fast whenever you think about them, and you can't stop thinking of the wonderful things about them once you have them in your head. You'd never want to leave their side, though you would get all panicky in times when your alone. It can happen really easily, but it's hard to hang onto long enough to know that that person is really... special. It's a lot different from your friends in a way I can't explain... and I'd sound like a douche if I explain it scientifically... you know, chemical reactions, instinct, blah blah blah.

"With people you love, you fight, you make up, and you forget pretty easily, but no matter how much you go through that cycle, you never stop loving them. You always make up, if you truly love that family member, friend, or significant other."

I turned to Natsu, who was intently listening.

"Do you get the idea now?" I asked.

Natsu did something really out of character, but at the same time, perfectly fitting. He smiled, but it was soft and undisturbed. Peaceful and humorless.

"Yeah," he said, holding his expression. "I got it."

I blushed at his sudden untainted expression, and immediately looked away.

"Um!" I said a vocative higher than intended. "We... we should go to sleep..."

Natsu continued to stare at me with his uncomfortably soft expression. "I got it.." he murmured once again.

My heart kept beating in a fast but steady rhythm, making me nervous if Natsu could hear or feel it, and the possibilities of his reactions if he could made me even more nervous.

"You okay?" Asked Natsu.

I stared at the hem of the covers, unable to speak for the fear of embarrassing myself. But, the human mind can become stupid from the cause of the emotion of love, so I stayed silent for only a moment.

"I think I'm falling in love," I said, without hardly any will of my own.

I immediately regretted it, and the room was filled with the sound of shock and pure silence. My mind calculated the consequences of my different possible responses. If I were to say with Natsu, I would either get rejected, into a beautiful relationship with someone I just discovered I fell in love with, or caught in a completely awkward situation with hardly any escape. Next, if I say I was falling in love with another person, I would either have to go out with someone without honest intentions in order to keep my dignity straight, or have Natsu ask who all month, never giving up to find a chance to set me up with someone. The outcomes of the second choice were annoying, but it took less chances than getting my heart broken officially. I needed to say one or the other, or wait for Natsu to respond.

Natsu responded, along with his blank stare and his response, it made me want to laugh. "With who?"

I stifled a chuckle. I couldn't tell him. I didn't want to, because it meant pressure on him. I simply smiled and looked at the boy I had fallen in love with and said, "It's a secret!"

Natsu grunted. "Why a secret? I'm your best friend! Tell mee~~"

I laughed. "Natsu, sweetheart, first of all, Levy is my best friend. Second, I'd never tell someone as forcible as to set me up with someone as you."

"I promise I won't," Natsu begged with puppy eyes.

"Goodnight, Natsu," I said with my heart warmed.

"That's no fun! Lucy! Lucy! Tell me!" Natsu kept going.

I snuggled up next to Natsu underneath the covers and stared up at the ceiling.

"We have to visit my dad's factories tomorrow, so be ready," I told Natsu, who was just getting comfortable.

Natsu turned his head to face mine, our noses two inches apart, making me blush.

"Luce... I want to ask you something," he whispered.

I blinked twice. "Huh?"

"Who.." he moved closer. "The... hell is- IT, WOMAN?"

I immediately recoiled and covered my ears in shock. "OH MY GOD NATSU," I yelled.

Natsu burst out laughing. "You totally were red right there! I probably should of taken your hand, too!"

 _Is this how you treat someone who you think is in love with someone else_?... I wondered.

"But in all seriousness... who _is_ it?"

 _This was a mistake_...

 ****BONUS-MINI CHAPTER**

 **Inside Mira and Laxus's Married Life**

 **~| Narrator's POV |~**

"Honey! I'm home!" Mira called, just entering the home after a long shift of working at the bar.

"Welcome home!" Replied the hard-working Laxus, who worked morning shifts, making dinner for his lovely wife.

"I fell like..." murmured Mira.

"It should be the other way around..." finished Laxus.

"Oh, never mind the stereotypes!" Cheerfully stated Mira, waving her hand. "We do our routine our usual way."

"I guess..." Laxus responded.

Mira with a grinning face turned on the TV to a famous prank show. Laxus liked those, because half the time someone got electrocuted.

"Do these ever get old?" The young couple asked in sync, happily eating dinner.

The cheerful pair finished the rest of their food with a healthy dose of gossip as prank shows playing in the background.

"So Levy-chan is now dating Gajeel-kun, and they both seem very happy!"

"Ooh?" Is what Laxus always said.

"And Lucy-chan in going through a crisis with that criminal bastard Jose, but I feel like it's bringing her and Natsu-kun closer together!"

"Ooh?"

"Lisanna looks sooo happy with Bixlow-kun, too! Love is in the air for those at our club!~~"

"Huh..."

They finished their night off with a binge of _Angel Beats!_ , making Mira cry. Laxus consoled her with a blank face as she cried, "It-it was as beaut-tiful as the th-third time!" Mira's favorite anime— no, even TV show, was _Angel Beats_!.

Laxus led his happily-crying wife into the bedroom as he ran the bath for Mira to relax herself in.

"Cry it out, dear," he comforted.

Mira still cried into the pillows.

After their baths, they spent some time cuddling until they finally fell asleep.

"I love you, Laxus-kun," murmured Mira in her sleep.

"Yeaaahh~" Laxus murmured back. "Love you..."

 ****END OF MINI-BONUS CHAPTER**

 **I apologize if you dislike cheesy content or useless pieces of fluff for extra characters at the end of chapters, but really... why are you reading a fanfiction if you don't like those things? Honestly I have to say I'm a _bit_ embarrassed to post stuff like this on the internet, even if it's not dirty, because even this crap embarrasses me. I like the ****forehead-touch thing, too, if you haven't noticed... ANYWAY I hope you enjoyed this chapter full of fluff and ease after the heavy one of hints to secrets. We'll see what's in store next chapter. Sorry that I wanted to leave off at a very non-intense part, of course, before next chapter, so the ending of this chapter was sort of dragged but abrupt at the same time. Again, sorry. (I'm still sorta embarrassed). Next month will be AWESOME. Cya~~~**


	22. Author’s Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

What's up people?? Heheh..

Okay, so, starting off, I am posting this to notify all of my readers, as small in numbers as they may be, but loyal, that I apologize for the late post and will try to be posting more often, but I have _sooorta_ big news..

I am going to place a small hiatus on the story to rewrite my earlier chapters to make the story make more sense, flow along, and actually create... well... more of a story. I read it a while back, and noticed many flaws, not to mention the parts I forgot and replaced them with other storylines that make it confusing for those who actually remember them. Plus, they were written in a way that I am not very proud of, now that I have actually learned some writing skills and learned more about the anime community. To put it simply, I am a little embarrassed about my earlier chapters (and still a bit embarrassed about my later chapter flaws...) but this is a good thing, since the fanfiction will be a lot better.

I have made this decision a while back, mentioned in my earlier chapters, that I was going to do a rewrite when I get better at writing, and after I finish the story, but I changed my mind since the latest chapter I wrote got deleted, and I was going through _quite_ the rough patch even before it got deleted. Moreover, my keyboard started to glitch out, so I wrote this note on my tiny iPad screen. I have actually started a rewrite of the first chapter already, and it's looking pretty good, so after I thought about it for a while, I decided. I don't know if any of you noticed, but I have replaced the beginners' author note and "Name Glossary" (lol) with an updated one, telling newcomers of the story and how I plan to make it better, and that starts now.

I will most likely replace the first chapter in two or three weeks after I have completed the second to give myself a head start. I will be changing different plot points in the story (Natsu's backstory, Jude and Lucy's relationship, what happened to the Lates') to make them better, and will continue to update the story regularly; possibly every few weeks, or month if I can. It will be a lot easier than writing the story without any kind of guideline like before, and now that I know what I'm doing, it'll be really fun.

Thank you so much if you have read this far. If you have any questions, suggestions, or objections, please PM me, and turn on PM so I can message back. Continue to look forward to the story, and if you liked the original, than, I assure you, you'll definitely love the rewrite.

I apologize for the hiatus, and if you want to know what happens ahead of time (I'm not too picky with spoilers) than PM me, requesting that you want to know, since I will most likely not write the ending until I'm finished replacing the chapters.

See you in two weeks with a fresh start!

 ** _~HannahPlusAnime - Author_**


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